What might have been. Tiger was great. Won the Tiger Slam. Fifteen majors. Changed the game of golf. Tied Sam Snead for the most wins in PGA history. But what if he hadn't changed his swing? What if he hadn't worn out his body, training like a Marine, wearing combat boots? But as great as he was, as much as he accomplished, could he have done even more?
The inner drive that took Tiger to the pinnacle of the golf world was the same drive that led him to make the changes, train so hard. The same drive tore apart his marriage. Did the surgeries and wrecks lead to a dependence on painkillers? Did the surgeries leave him with a body that could no longer compete on the PGA tour?
Woods recently signed up for the Senior US Open. Maybe that's what got him depressed.
What might have been. Say he didn't change his swing, or miss time in rehab and to all the injuries. Say he only won a major every other year in his 30's, and every third year in his 40's. How far would he be past Jack? By my count, Tiger could've had at least 21 majors.
YR AGE MAJOR
97 21 Masters (1)
99 23 PGA (2)
00 24 PGA, US Open, British (5)
01 25 Masters (6)
02 26 Masters, US Open (8)
05 29 Masters, British (10)
06 30 PGA, British (12)
07 31 PGA (13)
08 32 US Open (14)
09 33 (81)
10 34 (15) (82)
11 35 (83)
12 36 (16) (84)
13 37 (85)
14 38 (17) (86)
15 39 (87)
16 40 (18) (88)
17 41 (89)
18 42 (90)
19 43 Masters (19) (91)
20 44 (92)
21 45 (93)
22 46 (20) (94)
23 47 (95)
24 48 (96)
25 49 (21) (97)
Had Tiger won just one tourney per year these last few years, he'd be close to one hundred wins.
Woods was indeed the stick that stirred the drink. Tournaments are different when he's in the field. Have we seen the last of Tiger? How will he handle that?
So many tweets. The parents who raised him to be the lone wolf are gone. Who does Tiger have in his life who will love and support him? Is there anyone? Can Tiger live the life now being led by Michael Jordan - the former GOAT? Elvis couldn't handle the success. Michael Jackson couldn't either. Joe DiMaggio did okay. But Tiger seems to feed off competition.
Is this the end? Kinda feel sorry for the guy. Like all of us, Tiger needs Jesus. I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Denison: Gary Woodland vs Tiger Woods: Two divergent paths to recovery. These statements from Woodland stood out to me:
“I hope somebody that’s struggling sees me out here still fighting and battling and trying to live my dreams. I’ve talked to veterans, and one thing I’ve heard from multiple people is you can’t do this on your own, no matter how strong you think you are”.
“I appreciate that love and support. But inside, I feel like I’m dying, and I feel like I’m living a lie. I want to live my dreams and be successful out here. But I want to help people, too. I realize now I’ve got to help myself first”.
Both are statements that Tiger Woods needs to take to heart.
Golf writer Kyle Porter, himself a Christian, put it well: Tiger has done foolish things for a long time because when everyone treats you like you’re a god, why wouldn’t you act as if you’re invincible? Why wouldn’t you live as if you’re above reproach? Why wouldn’t you reject any accountability? You are a god! This particular incident, though, is a good reminder that he’s very much not a god and that he, like millions of others in the world, is desperately in need of help.
As Joel Beall noted in his Golf Digest article “Tiger Woods Is Not OK": Chronic pain and how people manage it are not moral failures. They are medical realities that have unmade careful, disciplined, strong-willed people for as long as the drugs have existed. Tiger Woods is, whatever else you want to say about him, among the most disciplined human beings to ever stand over a golf ball. That discipline did not protect him. It may have obscured how much protection he needed. Something’s wrong with Tiger Woods. We don’t know the struggle’s precise shape, but it’s there. It has been there. The evidence is not subtle, and it is not new. That is the sad and disconcerting thing, and until it is reckoned with honestly, everything else is secondary.”
Golf journalist Alan Shipnuck sounded the alarm on CNN, saying that Tiger’s arrest “makes you worry about his future…makes you worry about his kids and that too much of Tiger’s inner circle is ‘on his payroll’ and has enabled his addictions for years.”
Another appropriate Denison for today: Henri Nouwen wrote in his marvelous book Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World: "The world tells you many lies about who you are. You simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: "These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity. Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence. That is the spiritual life: the chance to say 'Yes' to our inner truth. The spiritual life, thus understood, radically changes everything."
Tiger Woods is facing big challenges, says Paul McGinley of Golf News.
AL KALINE [SABR Bio] played his first big league game in 1953 and became the team’s starting right fielder in 1954, the year the St. Louis Browns moved east and became the Baltimore Orioles. Kaline was born in the Charm City, and was an 18 time All Star. He was the youngest to slug 3 HR in one game. Twenty-year-(and 119 days)-old Kaline left the yard three times against the Kansas City A’s in April 1955. Eddie Matthews is the only other player with a three-homer game to his credit before his 21st birthday, though he was 231 days older than Kaline when he did. Kaline won ten gold gloves. In 1955, Kaline was a runner-up to Yogi Berra for AL MVP; in 1963, he was voted second-best behind Elston Howard.
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