He's BACK

Image via Wikipedia

Tiger's back and the world seems just a bit brighter, even the stock market seems to be rallying!
Golf just hasn't been as interesting for the past 8 months without the game's greatest player but now he's back on Tour and I'm wondering when he will win.
This week's tournament in Doral is one where he's highly favored but a six shot deficit after one round might be hard to overcome. It really depends on the putter. Tiger said yesterday that he lipped out 5 times and could easily have shot 66. Phil Mickelson needed only 20 putts during his opening round to vault him to the top of the leaderboard.
I'm certainly hoping that Tiger can finish high up the leaderboard this week. We need something to cheer about and Tiger is the game's biggest draw and so I'm pulling for him to win the tournament, solve the financial crisis, re-invigorate the economy, create world peace and discover life on other planets. Oh and after he's done with those trifles he can jolly well win the Grand Slam this year.

Economic Effects of Tiger's Injury

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeDid you stop to consider the wide ranging effects on the economy that will result from Tiger's forced absence from the game?
Attendance at tournaments will be lower, affecting gate receipts, food and beverage sales and merchandise sales and requiring less staff for the events. Sales tax receipts will also be down.
TV advertising revenues will be down for the events that Tiger would have played. Golf fans who only tune in to watch Tiger will find something else to do and may be lost from the golf audience forever.
Less people will be inspired to try golf, resulting in less equipment sales, less lessons taken and less rounds played.
This may be an early knee-jerk reaction but several of my clients have said that they won't watch golf again till Tiger returns and I must admit that my enthusiasm for the remaining two majors has waned significantly.
Has one athlete ever had such an economic impact on the US economy? I doubt it.
So get well soon Tiger, we need you, your country needs you and the economy needs you.

Tiger's bitter/sweet victory

Image by sammiemo via FlickrSo now we know the price that has to be paid for the greatest US Open in history.
Six months without Tiger!!
A broken leg and a torn ACL couldn't stop Tiger's assault on a 14th major championship. We are told that he knew about the stress fractures and decided to play anyway. We can only imagine the pain he played through and the mental discipline that was required to keep playing.
Some will say that he was crazy to play and some will say that it was the greatest performance in modern sports history.
I'm not sure where I stand on the issue. Obviously the injury had already been sustained, he knew that another surgery was necessary and he would probably be out for six months whether he played or not. If that's the case then it was an incredibly courageous performance.
If playing made the injury worse then the decision will be second guessed for ever.
In reality the general public will never know. Tiger will keep the full details to himself and his victory will become part of the Tiger legend.
Tiger, we will miss you for the rest of 2008 and we can't wait for your return - perhaps at Torrey Pines for the 2009 Buick!!