A Tiger Lost in the Woods

This past weekend was the U.S. Open Golf Championship. I spent a lot of time during the four days watching Tiger Woods. On Thursday and Friday, it seemed as if Woods had put the demons of four years of futility behind him. He looked strong, confident, and like a contender.

Saturday and Sunday, not so much. It's been four years since Woods won a major championship. During that time he's endured personal scandals, health problems, and a lot of speculation about whether he would ever be the same. It's clear now he will never be the same.

When Tiger burst onto the golf scene, he seemed unlike any player before him. His arrogance of the course was matched only by his talent on the course. It's fair to say I didn't care for him, and it was hard to root for him while he was mercilessly destroying the competition. He racked up 14 major championships and seemed destined to break all golf's records.

But a funny thing happened along the way. Tiger became, well, human. He suffered human failings in her personal life. He endured heart ache and scandal that left him shaken. He endured human failings physically. He endured operations and rehab that set back his ability to dominate on the course. And the Tiger he used to be began to slip from view.

Somewhere along the way, I became fascinated with him as an athlete. He finally started showing some humanity and vulnerability in interviews, and it made him more relatable. And then a funny thing happened, I actually started to root for him.

For years, the sports media has been debating how long it will take for Tiger Woods to look like Tiger Woods on the golf course. He won a couple tournaments, and people began to suspect that he was back. That led to an immense amount of pressure for the U.S. Open.

On Thursday and Friday, he appeared to be on his way. But then the weekend came, and Tiger slid from contention, leading to more speculation about when he'll return to form.

I'm beginning to believe the answer is he won't. Tiger's 35, not old but packed with a lot of mileage. He's no longer the dominating force he once was. No one had seen someone like him before that, and it's pretty clear he won't be returning to that form.

He may, one day, win a major championship again. But he no longer looks like a lock to sweep the record books. And that's OK. Tiger may never be the Tiger he was, but in some ways he's more fun to root for — at least for me.