Tiger Woods waited a long time for his first win since that fateful Thanksgiving day, and so have we! Ever since the famed golfer’s fall from grace, we have been waiting for him to climb back to the top! Well, that climb started on Sunday! Tiger did that confident walk (you know the one, when he looks like he’s charging a hill) to the 18th hole and birdied a putt to win the Chevron World Challenge! For two years, golf enthusiasts have been waiting for the other shoe to fall! Would Tiger ever get his mojo back?! We have endured news conferences, press releases, and photo ops–none of which had anything to do with golf and I, for one, have been really disappointed!
Tiger has dealt with his share of personal problems–a divorce, injuries, the loss of 4 major sponsors, a new caddie, new swing coach, and a revamped golf game since Thanksgiving 2009, just a couple of weeks after he won the Australian Masters. He was on the precipice of ruling the professional golf game and becoming sports’ first billion dollar player (according to Forbes magazine). Since then he seemed to be on a downward spiral, missing two majors and failing to make the cut of another.
Finally, on Sunday, Tiger was one shot behind with two holes to play when he closed out his game with two birdie putts to win the Chevron World Challenge by one shot over former Masters champion Zach Johnson. Ironically, Woods also hosted the Chevron World Challenge for his foundation (for the fifth and last time) and donated proceeds of $1.2 million. Although the Chevron Challenge is not an official PGA Tour event, this was Woods first win in 749 days, and a collective sigh could be heard amongst his fans. This win moves him from No. 52 to No. 21 in the world ranking, a far cry from his previous number one ranking, but regaining that title is just one more challenge he faces. So, now the other shoe has, indeed, fallen. Woods seems healthy, in mind and body, and appears to be on an upward path. As such, the expectations for his future wins have risen as well. Unfortunately, it’ll be a while before we can confirm our suspicions because Woods will not play again until 2012 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in late January. In the meantime, Tiger’s fans will just have to bask in this victory, the same way he appears to be. In Sunday’s interview with NBC he was asked what he was feeling, whether it was “joy, satisfaction or relief” and Tiger responded, “It feels awesome, whatever it is.” This golf enthusiast totally agrees!
