Did you hear? Tiger Woods won at Congressional yesterday.
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| Photo by: Kevin Dietsch |
Obviously, he has just wowed the golf world for so many years that without a major included in those wins, every other victory is all but irrelevant.
Due to his own success, Tiger is now held to an unfair standard in which no athlete should be held to. Basically, his season is a failure if he can't win one of four tournaments every year.
That just seems totally insane.
But for Tiger Woods, is it really that crazy? After all, in his best years, he was winning 40% of the tournaments he entered.
Yes, 40%.
A few weeks back, Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open, but I doubt he will ever win another major. I think this conundrum is a double-edged sword for golf, because Tiger winning should be great for ratings, but nobody cares if he wins regular tournaments anymore.
It has to be a major.
Let's say Tiger wins the British. Is he officially back then?
I honestly believe he will be held to this ridiculous standard forever unless he can pass Jack Nicklaus and win his 19th major. Anything less than that, and the second half of Tiger's career will be viewed as a total failure.
Still, it's funny how it can be viewed that way when he will end up with more tournament wins in his "bad years" than Webb Simpson will have for his entire career.
It's not fair -- but it's Tiger's reality.
You're right. No one cares if he wins if its not a major. I think the pressure he puts on himself to win majors is hurting his game when he's playing in them. He usually looks like old Tiger is regular tournaments, but struggles by his standards in the majors. Its got to be the pressure he puts on himself. Its the only explanation that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteTiger is held to a higher standard, but I think it is that way in all major sports. Obviously since golf is an individual sport, the pressure to win falls all on him, but great teams in other sports are held to similar standards. If the Yankees don't win the World Series every year, their season is considered to be a bust. Same goes for the Steelers or Patriots in the NFL. The teams themselves expect nothing but a championship year in and year out, so fans expect the same thing. It is just the burden of being dominate in a particular sport. Goes with the territory.
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