Tiger Woods Players Championship: Golf Shouldn't Wait for Tiger's Turnaround

Another week, another disappointing performance from Tiger Woods.

And perhaps, another opportunity to finally turn our attention to the rest of the golf world, to those other sweet swingers known collectively as "the field."

To 23-year-old Rickie Fowler, whose game has finally begun to catch up to his Justin Bieber-esque cachet. To Luke Donald, who will be No. 1 in the world again after finishing lightyears ahead of Rory McIlroy but who's yet to pad his resume with a Major championship. To Matt Kuchar, who finished third at The Masters and has been in the hunt at The Players Championship all weekend.

Then again, TPC Sawgrass might be the last place on Earth where Woods would reasonably expect to shake off a slump that's left him Major-less for nearly four years now. He's won there once (in 2001), finished in the top-10 once in the last decade and had failed to finish four rounds in Ponte Vedra Beach in each of the previous two years.

Realistically, then, it would've been unwise to expect Woods to fare much better than his one-under-par for the weekend, especially after failing to make the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship the weekend prior.

In the meantime, nobody has yet stepped forward to hegemonize the links like Tiger once did. Whether that means the field is lacking in top-quality competitors or, conversely, is too talented overall for anyone to dominate is up to interpretation. What's clear, though, is that the likes of McIlroy, Donald, Watson and Fowler (among others) have yet to assert themselves as forces to be reckoned with on the course.

And until they do, the golf-watching public, casual and otherwise, will continue to turn to Tiger for a reason to pay attention.

Even if he's still scraping by just to make the cut. Even if he only looks like Tiger in fits and spurts.

Because, though the king may no longer be the king, he'll be the biggest attraction the sport has to offer until another someone else proves worthy of the throne.

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