http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3450453 First off, this just sucks. I was so excited about this season. Tiger had been doing some things to give you a very good reason to believe this could be a magical season. Then he has the first surgery. Now, the season is completely gone. Damn shame for golf fans. Is it possible to truly appreciate how big of an accomplishment it was to win the freaking US Open after playing 91 holes of golf over 5 days on that knee? Not to mention he hadn't even walked 18 before the tournament, and since the Masters. The "rest of the field" should thank Tiger for their new found wealth this season.
well said, this season has offically got boring imo....i wont watch it like i would have with tiger on the prowl....i either watch it to see him win it somehow, or watch it to see someone upset the greatest golfer of my time.....so it is a bummer to me... Good thing he is getting in takin care of now though, next season watch out!!!
Wow... thats a bigtime blow for the PGA. I definitely didnt think his knee was that bad. For sure it makes his accomplishment at the US Open last week even more incredible. Shame for golf though..
I'll re-post what I did behind the club lounge: Well that's a shame, as much as I want someone to beat Tiger, I want to see him play (as a fan of the sport, who wouldn't?). Golf isn't the same without him. Question, could the multiple knee surgeries cut his career short? You probably saw the piece about how he likes to "pop" that knee when he swings for extra distance, is the "popping' contributing to this knee situation in any way? I wonder how common it is for other golfers to have the same problems with their knees (particularly at his age, 32... young for a golfer to have problems with his knee?)...
Great question, and I just don't know. My feeling is that it could cut his career short, but not really until he's much older. IF his swing is the cause (although the article says he initially hurt the ACL jogging), then he'll adjust his swing again. For a little Tiger Woods historical perspective: Back in 2000 he had a historical year winning three majors in a row (and won the Masters in '01 thus winning the "Tiger Slam"). He was on top of the world and looked invincible. Then he did something CRAZY. He changed his swing! Who on God's green earth would change their swing after that? Tiger did because he wanted to create a swing that would put less stress on his body. The general idea back then was that Tiger's swing had a very real chance of hurting his back and eventually his career. My point is, if he was willing to change his swing after honing it to the point that he won four straight majors, I don't think he'd hesitate to change it again for the sake of his career.
This is definitely a huge blow for Golf. Hopefully he can come back stronger than ever. I've never watched such an intense tourney as the Open this year. Great stuff.
Considering how great golf is at the moment, with so many superb players and great characters on both the US and European tours, I can't believe some of you are saying "golf is done".
well i am only speaking for myself....but in my opinion, golf is not the same without tiger.....its not "done" but it is certainly not the same.... I watched every second of the u.s. open on fathers day.....that would not of happened if he wasnt apart of the field.... It loses a "something amazing might happen" feel IMO
Yeah, it's not done, but whoever is showing The Open this year just lost millions (if it's not too late for advertisers to pull out).
God, even when he stops playing the media won't shut up about him. I'm really getting sick of the man through no fault or act of his own, but rather due to the overexposure.
Tiger in a tournament gets the casual fan to tune in. Tiger in contention keeps that fan from changing the channel. From an article in Jan. of this year. http://www.chicagolandgolf.com/blog1/?p=49
And if you listen real carefully, you can hear a collective sign of relief from the entire PGA Tour, for the time being anyways. Its sucks but hopefully it will give the spotlight to a few other great golfers out there who are always overcast by the Tigercoverage. I like watching tiger too, but I agree with Desides, through no fault of Tiger the media and their irresponsibility makes it frustrating to not even mention some of the other great golf stories. Classic example how they only report what they think sells, which is only right a portion of the time.
I actually really got into the U.S. Open because of the way the head to head play was, and how good the tournament was. I am currently in Augusta GA for school, I'd really like to see some golf in person now. Golf is too frustrating to play but I do appreciate how great these guys are. I think its a shame that people only care about it if Tiger does something.
Tiger played with torn ACL, 2 fractures in leg That win at the US Open is becoming even more legendary by the day. Today came the announcement that Tiger Woods is shutting it down for 2008 after that fantastic win at the US Open. Turns out, Tiger's been playing the past 10 months on a torn ACL. And that he suffered two stress fractures in his tibia two weeks before the Open. He'd missed six weeks prior to that following surgery on the same knee to clean out some loose cartilage, a result of the ACL injury. He decided against repairing the ACL because he wanted to try and finish the season. He put on that legendary performance. And now he'll have the ACL repaired and will miss the next 8 months. Look at the chart of events after he tore that ACL (in the link). The guy is a machine. Flat out. http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3450453
Most dominant golfer ever. And a bit of longevity even if half as good and no question hes the best ever. Frankly hes about as dominant an athlete in any sport can be over a period of time. And the pressure, wow. I watched that putt and honestly expected him to make it. I would have been shocked if he didnt. He just rises to the challenge and comes through over and over. Amazing. Hopefully the knee (hes had problems with it for years mind) wont cut his playing life short.
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. He's incredible. Hopefully he's able to come back from this and smash some more records. Sure hope this doesnt ruin things for the rest of his career.
I watched it too. And I felt the same way. And that's what defines his greatness more than anything else. That's what the absolute greats have. You always expected Jordan to hit that big shot in the playoffs. And you always expect Tiger to nail that putt when it counts. And every time he does it, it still makes your jaw drop. He's just money every. single. time. It's just incredible. He's the most dominant athlete in the world. He's been operating on another planet from his competition for the better part of a decade, not counting when he nuked the field at the '97 Masters. Knowing what we know now, how incredible was he on Saturday? I mean, we were just laughing when he nailed that 60-footer.
tiger is GOAT....and one of the best athletes we've seen...just absolutely domniate i don't think the surgery should affect his career to much besides he doesn't have a chance to win this years open, and pga championship.......
Hopefully the recurring knee issues dont cut his career short. I want to see him set all the records before he's done.
I don't buy that for a second. I think you could make a pretty compelling argument that just as many people will tune in to watch The Open because Woods ISN'T there, meaning that someone else is going to step up. As great as Tiger is - and he is - there is a monotony with regards him winning tournament after tournament and the same people who were turned on by golf BECAUSE of Woods, might get turned off BECAUSE of Woods. Two of the greatest golf tournaments of all time - the Van De Velde Open and last year's one that Padraig won - had nothing to do with Tiger Woods, but were as compelling as sports can be.
That may be true subjectively to true golf fans. But true golf fans tune in no matter what, and may in fact enjoy the tournament more w/o Tiger. However, objectively the numbers don't lie. Ratings w/o Tiger in contention are a failure of epic proportions. Rating aren't about how much you enjoyed Van de Velde's Open. That was absolutely one of the greatest Opens ever. A Sunday with two "no body's" in Van de Velde and Paul Lawrie are battling for THE Open is great for someone like me. But Tiger Woods is like the Super Bowl for Golf. He brings in people who don't really care about the sport or watch regularly.
I really don't understand this kind of logic. What in the world has the guy done to deserve hatred? The guy is friggin amazing. He is the most talented golfer EVER, he has done wonders for the game of golf itself, he does so much for charity and kids, yet for some reason people still want to see him fail. I don't get it at all. Instead of crying about Tiger getting too much exposure, or whatever your deal is with him, people should relax and enjoy the history that we are fortunate enough to be seeing this guy make. And if you are still not impressed with what Tiger did this past weekend knowing what we know now, then nothing in the world could impress you. That or you are totally clueless about golf and the human anatomy as the 2 relate.
there is definitely a % of TV viewers that tune in to golf only when something big is happening... they don't normally watch golf... in fact they think it's rather boring... my boss at the moment is one of them.... why does this % tune in mostly when that "something big" is Tiger Woods? Because he's on every news channel.
