It has often been said that there is a link between greatness and stupidity. We all know that Tiger Woods is a golfing great, no matter whether you're a fan of him or not, but is he really that stupid?
Woods took time off after the Masters to "clean out" his knee and remove damaged cartilage that was a result of his long standing ACL problem. During his rehabilitation it was found that, for one reason or another, Woods had suffered a double stress fracture of the leg.
I should note here that this is not only the science bit, as they say, but that you'll hear enough about stress fractures over the next few days to last you a lifetime.
In an attempt to keep it simple, stress fractures are not a good thing. They come from constant pressure or a rapidly increased intensity of load on the affected area. In layman's terms, it's a fracture caused by stress.
Basically, Woods went too hard in an attempt to get back to fitness, or more seriously, he played for far too long on his affected knee and it stopped absorbing pressure, which was then transferred to his bones.
This I don't have a problem with. He was either so desperate to come back that he pushed too hard or he just went on too long with a persistent injury. Either way, he wouldn't be the first modern sportsman to do it.
However, Woods, against all medical advice, I'm presuming, was so steadfast that he decided to continue in a quest that would lead to victory at Torrey Pines.
This is what I have problem with!
Stress fractures are exactly what the name says. Continuing to put stress on the affected areas as Woods did, not for four but five days, would only have increased the damage and reduced the risk of a proper recovery. It also heightens the risk of re-injury.
Now as a result of his desperate quest, Woods is out for the rest of the season, missing not only two more "less important" majors, but also the Ryder Cup, the pinnacle of Euro-American golf.
That could, worryingly, only be the beginning. If the injury doesn't heal properly, for whatever reason, it could vastly reduce the amount of stress that is able to be put on the leg and possibly even call a major halt to Tiger's career.
Was winning at Torrey Pines really worth that much? I mean really worth risking your career for?
Golf will carry on—after all it's been going for centuries. In a month or so, Tiger Woods non-participation will only be a brief mention in telecasts of the majors and the Ryder Cup.
Whether we see him back and in what condition will only depend on what his winner-takes-all-mentality has done to his injury and how it affects his recovery.
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3 months ago
Totally disagree with your statement that golf will carry on as if nothing happened. First, there is so much money tied up between television rights and sponsors, and money that make Tiger not playing a major event. Hoards of people will not watch the telecasts if Tiger is not involved. The guys who win the majors will always have an unwritten asterik next to their win labelled, "Tiger Woods didn't play this major". Whether he made a mistake playing was his call, and it is his career. Athletes err on both sides of the fence, but his not playing will not just be a brief mention.
Andrew
3 months ago
I feel that Tiger did do the right thing by playing in the Open. If anything he increased his credibility by showing toughness and courage by golfing through a stress fracture. I do agree with you that golf will be fine, too much money now a days tied up not for golf to be fine.
3 months ago
Personally speaking I don't think The Players Championship was any less of a tournament because Tiger didn't play. If there is an unwritten asterisk it won't be remembered in 20 or 30 years time. Major tournaments and the Ryder Cup aren't built on the foundations of one player, they'll cope without Woods simply cause they have to and if people won't watch those tournaments because he's not in them, then that's sad for the game.
3 months ago
A good arguement presented, and it is a very logical question to be asking. However, Tiger's performance at the Open will go down as one of the greatest accomplishment's in the histroy of golf, possibly the histroy of sports - not many people can say that in their lifetime. Woods had the stress fractures before playing and probably knew that the Open was it for his season. Could he have made them worse by playing? Probably, but he knew he was shutting it down for the rest of the year after that and he accomnplished something truely amazing in the process.
Golf WILL NOT go on as normal without Woods - see some stats below -
According to research done on Woods’ effect on television ratings in 2007, tournaments in which he finished in the top five had a 171% increase in CBS’ ratings over those in which he did not play or wasn’t in contention.
Furthermore, according to Nielsen Media Research, the viewer ratings for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Tiger won by sinking a dramatic birdie putt on the 18th, represented a 68% increase last year’s ratings when Woods was not on the leader board.
US Open was one of the the most watched golfing events in history and I highly doubt the British Open of PGA Championship will come close to the viewership the US Open had.
Nice article though and whether it was smart to possibly risk his career for the US Open is a very logical question to ask - my opinion just happens to be on the other side of the fence.
from 3 months ago
A lot of how his win will be seen will probably be determined by how he comes back from this injury and if he wins any more majors.
Being from the other side of the Atlantic it's interesting to hear how much he determines TV coverage. The last time I was in the States was when his winning streak ended at Doral and that was big news, but it was a pretty special run. Guess I just think it's a shame things have gone that way when there are so many good players around and also coming through like Phil Mickleson or Anthony Kim.
3 months ago
Yes, it definitely is a shame that so many people do not watch golf if Woods is not playing. There are more great players on tour now than ever before and there should be some exciting finishes in Tiger's absence.
I think it's a combination of thee things that explains why so many fewer people watch golf if Tiger is not playing.
1) There are so many 'Tiger Woods' fans out there rather than golf fans. The millions of 'Tiger Woods' fans will not tune in if he's not in the tournament.
2) The PGA Tour has put Woods to much at the center of everything they do (marketing, advertising, etc.) and therefore have become so reliant on Woods to keep up the popularity of the tour.
3) There are some great young players out there but none of them come close to offering fans the theatre that Woods provides when he's in a tournament. None of them pull of the amazing clutch shot that Woods does and none of them are as animated and exciting to watch as Woods.
I'd say that true golf fans will watch just as much golf as they ordinarily would, whether Tiger is there or not. It's the millions of 'Tiger Woods' fans that will be lost for the rest of the season which dramatically brings down the ratings.
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