Tiger Woods: I Found Myself Rooting for Him Again

I found myself rooting for Tiger this past weekend.

This despite his gargantuan moral lapse and fall from grace, despite his year of tantrums and club-throwing (which, if it was a contest unto itself, he would lead the pack), despite a perpetual scowl that turned him from the biggest winner to the biggest whiner on the PGA circuit.

Nope, I found myself cheering for Tiger because it actually looked like he could win again.

And, when he didn't, when Graeme McDowell, the British Bomber with iced tea in his veins, putted his way to victory in OT, I still was rooting for him.

Not a pity-root, this, but a genuine, I wanna-see-Tiger-win-this-thing root.

Why? Because he actually played some great golf. He didn't scowl much and he only banged his club a couple of times. 

Why? Because he was playing against a great competitor and the hottest player in the game right now, one of the newbies who took Tiger's time off to rise to the top of his own game, and it created a really good golf match...one of the best ones we have seen in...well, in over a year.

I am not golf-technician enough to know how Tiger has reshaped his game to become competitive again.

But, the shot he made in regulation on the 18th, a mid-iron beauty that landed a few feet from the cup just when he absolutely needed it, reminded me of days gone past when Tiger made those shots with fearful regularity. When the guy he was playing against wilted as Tiger toughened and made the shot he had to make to win.

Only this time it was McDowell, sitting 15+ feet away with a putt he had to make to stay in the game, rolling in a smooth little birdie forcing Tiger to make his putt to go to sudden death.

As he and McDowell left for the first hole of extended play, I actually felt as if Tiger could pull out another a win (I won't go into how he let McDowell get back into the game with his mediocre play on this Sunday).

For four consecutive days, here was Tiger stroking solid, well-thought-out drives, hitting greens in regulation and giving himself a chance to win a tournament. There is little question his putting is not all the way back. He had numerous opportunities to win outright but just could not seem to make anything over 10 feet on the last day.

If Tiger has really returned to form, he will find a lot of guys like McDowell waiting for him. They are emboldened and seemingly not intimidated by the once-most-dominant player on the circuit. They can make the 15-footers (which McDowell did twice in a row!), make the comebacks and scramble their way to the top or make birdie after birdie to put themselves in contention.

On the 19th hole, as Tiger faced a game-tying uphill putt after McDowell had rolled in yet another one, I didn't "feel" as if he could make it; I just didn't have that sense that Tiger felt as if he could make it. Should he get that feeling back, then we will really see the greatness that causes the hairs on the backs of his competitors to rise again as well.

It appears Tiger is just another (really good) player right now.  But, as magnanimous McDowell said in response to a question about Tiger's return, "I am glad he is back!"

So am I.