Tiger Woods: Why Tiger Needs To Take Some Time Off

Last August, Y. E. Yang became the most unlikely PGA Champion in recent memory. This was not because nobody thought he had the game to win, but rather who he was chasing as he teed off on Sunday: the familiarly red-shirted Tiger Woods. And if you have been following golf for the past decade, you know one absolute truth: Tiger never blows a lead in a major. Well, he did, and that was the first flash of many that started a spiraling down of Tiger's golf game.

Everybody knows what happened to his life since then. There is no point in me chronicling the massive S**t-storm that would soon ensue upon Tiger's life, all stemming from a Thanksgiving night car wreck.

A month or so passed before Tiger felt he could safely address the media and his millions of fans. The press conference was shocking. Tiger was stone-faced, emotionless as he delivered apology after apology to his family and his fans. He never did admit publicly to what his indiscretions were, although he has never refuted an allegation either. At the time, Tiger left us all wondering when he would return to golf.

The talking heads on ESPN speculated to no end. Some thought Tiger would take the year off and focus on getting his personal life right. Others didn't believe he would miss even one tournament and return to the course as dominant as ever.

Tiger's decision finally came; he would return at the Masters. This was no surprise as he has always been about winning major titles. Tiger was inconsistent at Augusta, producing a colorful scorecard that reflected what most assumed was simply rust. He was forced to watch as his biggest rival on tour and a true family man, Phil Mickelson, took home what he surely thought should have been his green jacket.

His golf game rolled back downhill like a ball on the 14th green at Pebble Beach. A missed cut followed by dumping his swing coach Hank Haney and a surprisingly impressive showing at the U.S. Open had Tiger set up for what many thought would be his inevitable triumph at one of his favorite courses and the site of the 2010 Open Championship, St. Andrew's. A first round 67 provided hope for Tiger fans around the world. That was short lived, however, as Tiger finished a disappointing 23rd and 13 back of the championship.

Going into this week, many saw it as Tiger's best chance at getting back on track this year. After all, this is a course where Tiger has won seven out of eleven times, never finishing outside the top 10. That was old Tiger, though. New Tiger has never won a tournament, and in Akron this weekend, he hit rock bottom, shooting +18 after a final round 77.

The 2010 PGA Championship will likely be the first major in quite some time to not have Tiger as the betting favorite. There is no reason he should be. When Tiger was great, golf was the most important thing to him. With all the turmoil in his life, golf shouldn't be the most important thing right now, and he shouldn't be trying to pretend as if it still is.

Tiger was never one to divulge even minor details about his life. He was simply a golfing machine, never letting on there was anything but golf. The most dominant golfer of all-time rarely smiled or laughed out on the course. Trademarking the furious fist pump after a big putt or chip-in, Tiger showed us nothing but intensity. On the rare occasions when Tiger wasn't playing well, everyone on the course could hear it as he showcased an impressive repertoire of vulgarity.

That Tiger appears to be gone, at least for the immediate future. Following his worst tournament score (in relation to par) as a professional, Woods needs to recede from the spotlight and focus on getting his personal life in order. Golf needs be towards the bottom on his list of priorities, far behind seeing his kids and sorting through what is likely a very messy divorce. 

The game of golf made Tiger the richest athlete in professional sports history, and now if he wants to help himself and the game of golf, he needs to walk away for a while. No other player on tour would try to continue to play during such circumstance. If he ever wants to return to where he once was, he needs to walk away for a little while. If that happens and he rights the wrongs in his life, golf can return to his main focus. Only then can he once again be the best player in the world. For the time being though, the man so many people know as "Tiger" needs to return to just being Eldrick Woods.