Masters 2012: Why Golf Needs Tiger Woods to Win

Listen, I'm a big Rory McIlroy fan. I think he's incredibly talented, the future of the sport and a great ambassador to a younger generation of fans.

However, McIlroy can't generate the sort of buzz at the Masters like Tiger Woods can, especially if Tiger can break his majors drought and win the event this year.

McIlroy won't captivate the entire sports world with a win like a rejuvenated Tiger chasing down the field or pulling away with an epic final round world. And frankly, McIlroy may be better for golf's future, but he isn't nearly as important for the game's present as Woods is.

How often do you get to see one of the world's most dominant athletes have a fall from grace as hard as Woods did and then come back to his/her old form and dominate once again?

He was Tiger Woods, then he was The Scumbag Formerly Known as Tiger Woods, and now he could just be a symbol, maybe Nike's swoosh.

All of that aside, a final day at the Masters with Tiger in contention would bring a ton of attention back to golf, the sort of mainstream audience it hasn't had since Tiger's old days of domination. No other golfer on tour is capable of the widespread appeal—or, perhaps more accurately, intrigue—of Woods.

Returning to his once-dominant form at the Masters would be the perfect theater for both Woods and the game of golf. And if we had a Sunday battle between Tiger and McIlroy, well, what could be more exciting than that?

For the game of golf, not a damn thing.

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