U.S. Open Golf 2010: Make or Break for Tiger Woods

There is more on the line this year at the 2010 U.S. Open than just a big payout and the possible dethroning of Tiger Woods atop his pedestal.

If Mickelson overcomes Woods, or even if Woods just doesn’t fare well, it could spell the end of Tiger’s career as a dominant force.

There was a time not too long ago when Tiger Woods wasn’t just a golfer, or an athlete, or even a public icon.

He was THE golfer, THE athlete, and THE public icon, all rolled into one.

He was a sports god.

Lately though, this hasn’t been so.

For the better part of a year, the man who was considered not only the greatest golfer in the world, but possibly the greatest athlete altogether, has been in the headlines more for his extramarital affairs than for his accomplishments on the green.

But this isn’t just the fault of the media or the sensationalist stories surrounding his personal life.

It is in large part because of his sub par performance, both figuratively and literally, since arriving back in the field.

If Woods had been able to pull a victory or two out of his hat thus far in the season, his player status might outshine, well, his “player” status.

The lack of such accomplishments has dropped Tiger from THE golfer to just A golfer. 

As ESPN writer Gene Wojciechowski wrote in a recent article: “Thumb through the 214-page U.S. Open issue of Golf Digest . There's a full-page NBC ad about its coverage, complete with photos of Phil Mickelson and Camilo Villegas…There's a two-page clothing ad featuring Tom Watson. There's a two-page ad featuring Mickelson and his choice of golf clubs, and another one featuring him and an investment bank. There's even a putting aid ad with Hank Haney, and out of all of those 214 pages, no Woods."

If Tiger can’t get a photo in a magazine dedicated to his sport, with more pages than there are golfers in the tournament, then it shows just where he’s at in his golfing career—at the very bottom.

So far this year, what is supposed to be the world’s best golfer has gone 0-for-5, missing the cut in one tourney and withdrawing from another.

In these previous tournaments, the media and fans were able to console themselves through the denial and ideas that Woods just needed some time back to get warmed up, that the media storm surrounding him needed to part in order for him to succeed, and that soon the “real” Tiger would make his way back to us once again.

This weekend is when we will finally learn if those consolations will go from warm to wet blanket.

Woods has had the time to play comfortably in tournaments for a couple of months now, as he notes, “I only had a few weeks to get ready for Augusta after being off for quite a while. Now, I’ve been playing tournament golf basically since April.”

And he’s also starting to feel his game is getting to its full potential, “The more time I’ve been able to practice and play, it’s starting to solidify, and I’m actually really excited to tee it up on Thursday.”

With both of these factors in play, you can also add the fact that he's a three-time U.S. Open champion, and playing on a course where he had arguably the most historical win of both his entire career and U.S. Open.

All of this combined doesn’t necessarily mean that Woods will or should do well.

But what it does mean is that if Woods does poorly, don’t plan on him getting back to his old self any time soon, if at all.

If he can’t do well this weekend, then the curve we’ve all expected Tiger to be graded on just became much more extended.

The problem for him is it can’t be.

With the growing addition of younger golf stars, and Tiger’s inevitable climb into old age, he frankly doesn’t have the time to return to the top later on down the road.

The grading curve will become an inevitable decline.

On top of all of this there is the Mickelson factor, for Phil plays especially well at Pebble Beach. It is his debut course, and over the years he’s had three AT&T victories there.

Not to mention he is as hungry as ever to obtain a U.S. Open victory which has eluded him his entire career and he's finished runner-up to five times.

Mix in the opportunity to overcome Woods for the first time in five years and take the crown as the world’s greatest golfer, and one can’t find a more motivated man than Lefty.

With all of these things combined, when the weekend is over we will know more about the future of golf than we have for maybe the past decade.

More importantly, so will Tiger.