Today is Masters Sunday. The only golf tournament I watch religiously. The only time golf can get me more excited then watching my favorite football team or watching a NBA finals. How such a slow, methodical, purposefully subdued game gets me so jacked is simple.
Tiger
There are about five holes to play for Woods and he is tied for the lead. A prospect that is as exciting as impossible.
He has already completed the greatest comeback in sports history. From five back surgeries, becoming unranked, personal battles with his family and painkillers, he is in position to win another coveted Green Jacket.
It is difficult to understand how incredible Tigers comeback has been, but lets put it in context of another sports legend, Michael Jordan. A golfers back is much like a basketball players knees. They are where all the torque and main motor movement come from. Imagine Michael Jordan tearing a ACL towards the end of his prime, tearing the MCL as soon as he gets it rehabbed, restraining that same ACL soon after, then partially tearing his MCL and requiring surgery(at least). Then imagine Jordan has to rework his entire shot to save his remaining knees. He comes back after being out of the game for years and the second year of him returning to basketball he is playing in game 7 of the NBA finals carrying his team.
This comeback is not only amazing, but what happens when you watch Tiger play golf is amazing. I have to put on a blanket because of all the goosebumps I get. Watching his steel composure, you can't help but feel bad for the rest of the field. He is on the prowl and nothing will phase him. Meanwhile those he plays with are competing not only with the best athlete that has ever played a sport, but also the largest crowds they have ever experienced.
How does one person nearly double viewership by simply participating. It is truly difficult to wrap ones head around how one player can be bigger then an entire sport. I also can't pinpoint exactly what makes Tiger so great to watch. Nostalgia, energy, there are just too many factors. I can watch Tiger and another player make the exact same shot, but I feel multitudes better when Tiger makes the shot.
Looking forward to the roller coaster of emotions watching these last 4 holes and pulling for Tiger with every fiber of my being.