Tiger Woods: Love Him or Hate Him, He's Wonderful for the World of Sports

He's baaack!

The greatest golfer in the world, arguably the greatest athlete anywhere at one time, has sustained his fall from grace and is back to dominate his sport.

He was doubted by the so-called experts, discounted as a serious contender for the crown jewel of golf, The Masters.

But Tiger didn't listen to all the white noise coming from the talking heads; he got his head on straight and started to regain his signature swagger Friday afternoon.

Woods began began the day minus-one, six shots back from the lead in 14th, and he started birdie, birdie, bogey.

It looked all too familiar to his recent ridiculous play.

But the Tiger was again on the prowl, he dropped seven birdies from holes 8-18, finishing fabulously while reminding the young guns they are mere pea shooters. Tiger is a weapon of mass destruction, capable of demolishing adversaries on the way to the top.

As Woods dropped his ninth birdie of the day on 18, he slowly fist-pumped as the crowd went wild for their favorite Tiger.

Goosebumps aplenty could be found in Augusta, Ga., and all around the country for that matter at that point.

Undoubtedly, Woods felt an adrenaline rush as he sank the putt, hopefully with it came a flood of memories from when Tiger couldn't be beaten.

And really, Woods' story is interesting and compelling for the most die-hard sports fanatic to the people who aren't even concerned with what sport the man plays.

When it comes to celebrity, there are two things Americans love; building up people to god-like creatures, and tearing them down to bring them back to earth after we've elevated their status.

Tiger is a classic example; not only was he absolutely blowing out any competition that came his way, he was only a baby when he first arrived on tour.

And on top of all that, Woods, the mixed-ethnicity, larger-than-life figure was beating the pants off of the establishment: the older, white men with the personality of stale bread.

Tiger roared, he cussed, he was loud and flamboyant in celebration (with his trademark fist-pumps) and in defeat.

Sports fans embraced him for his raw nature and his unquenchable desire to win.

Tiger was anti-golf in every way, except when it came to playing golf.

He was the best at ripping the ball down the fairway, saving himself with spectacular shots even the most devout religious person would question or sinking seemingly impossible putts again and again.

We couldn't get enough.

Woods wiped out competitors worldwide, he set new course records nearly every year and he scared the all-time greats by collecting 14 major tournament victories along the way.

We loved it.

Shoot, we loved him.

But then it happened, Tiger was actually too great, we became spoiled expecting him to not only win every week, but Woods was supposed to lay the smack down on every opponent.

Tiger couldn't be beaten; he ran a streak of 281 weeks atop the World Golf Rankings, which began in 2005 and ran through 2010, our attention strayed.

Tiger was great and all, but it was too easy for him.

Really, who could challenge the beast?

He was named top athlete in any sport by ESPN and his international celebrity grew to an unfathomable size.

No doubt people already hated him due to jealousy, they tried to knock him off his pedestal, saying he had lost it and would never be as great as he once was.

Woods tore his ACL, a bad omen, and while trying to recover in his professional life, his personal life became front-page news.

The haters had their fodder, the gossipers had their hot new topic (even though they never knew who he was beforehand) and Woods' popularity crashed.

The injuries and affairs hampered him physically and emotionally, and in such a mental game as golf, Tiger looked lost.

But Woods worked on his craft tirelessly, just as he had all his life, and he pushed himself to be great again.

Which brings us back to today, when Woods was again wonderful on the course, and in one of the most difficult tournaments of the year.

Still, even sitting in third place heading into the weekend, Woods may not win, he may not even enjoy as many birdies in the next two rounds as he sank today, but Tiger rediscovered himself.

Tiger found himself in the woods of Augusta National Golf Course, here's hoping this is only the beginning, because we need him as a leading man in sports.

Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being the CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Nuggets and NBA Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com, the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com, a weekly contributor to milehighhoops.com and a contributor to milehighreport.com writing on the Denver Broncos.

Rich also heads up PR for K-Biz and Beezy, a Colorado-based rap group.

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