Grinding

If you are not a Tiger Woods fan, start typing that weak, snarky sauce now. Or, perhaps, just move on.

Regardless, what follows is my assessment of what transpired last week in St. Louis and in part the entire season in professional golf

Brooks Koekpa won the PGA Championship, but Tiger Woods claimed Sunday with one of the strongest-willed performances of his career.

I think Nick Faldo was on to something about TW’s 64  … that most players would have finished 10 shots higher.

Tiger’s run on the front nine Sunday in spite of missing every fairway was, even if you loathe Tiger Woods, remarkable.

From the first disappointing near-make for birdie on the first hole, Tiger maintained his focus … and only after the wild tee shot on 17, did we see frustration. I’m sure most of his fans at home went into deep funks as that tee ball sailed wide right. While the golf gods of the greens screwed with Tiger all day, the fairway/rough gods were a tad more benign. On 17, the ball was “playable” from the hazard, as in dry and not bellying up to whatever creatures lurk in streams in Missouri.

On the ninth hole, a yanked iron off the tee flirted with OB, then danced down the cart path toward the green, the way a golf ball should behave when struck by an icon. Even better, as Tiger took his drop, and the ball kept bouncing away, he was allowed to place his ball on the hard pan. It took several moments to do that, and here’s a strong opinion — when a Tour pro is given ball in hand, he knows exactly what to do. Amateurs, of course, have more practice, not that it does us all that much good.

Then, the sweeping 9 iron second shot that left Tiger with an opportunity which he cashed in, That was one hell of a fist pump, and the adrenaline flowed. “Oh waiter, another six shot espresso, if you would be so kind.”

Non-Tiger fans are likely wondering — are you gonna talk about this creep all day, and not discuss Koepka?

Yes, I am going to discuss what interests me, and I do have some things to say about Koepka. He’s a hell of a player who finished strong. I hope he brings that game to the Ryder Cup. Happy?

The images of the St. Louis fans that followed Tiger and surrounded the 18th green reflect the people’s choice. It’s an easy one, in my view.

Rewind the film to 2009, when the scandal broke. I suggested then that Tiger Woods see a therapist, rather than a new golf coach to alter his swing. What needed changing was his mind, not his launch path.

Eventually, if you believe in karma, that vengeful, insidious force shadowed Woods until it helped destroy his back. And then the period of time when no one knew if Tiger would ever play again on Tour — his personal Elba (an awkward exile from his chosen form of self-expression.)

Okay, “one” of his chosen forms of self-expression. I know that’s cheap. A Mick Jagger joke. But true.

Tiger might not have had discretion or morals, but he certainly, for the most part, had great taste.

The point is that Tiger did not change his attitude or his behavior when he returned to golf that April after the scandal broke the previous November. His wife wisely bailed, and Tiger moved on. 

I don’t believe Tiger caught up with himself until he realized he’d lost it all. Of course that’s just a guess.  And what I mean by caught up is that realm of self-reflection where you actually catch a glimpse of what a colossal asshole you have been, and how that behavior and sense of entitlement hurt you in ways that you could not fathom. And that what you loved even more than worldly pleasures was the joy you felt on a golf course. 

Golf is one of those bites where you live with the sting. You might take the boy out of golf, but you never take the golf out of the boy.

(I know this personally. I had no idea how much missed even posting about golf on a message board, a habit that returned earlier this year,  And as one thing often leads to another, clubs have returned to my car, and my body is trying remember its golf muscles. 

There’s a huge difference in comeback, and coming back. I’m just a hacker, but golf is in my soul. And for a decade, I thought I was done forever.

While I have doubts about what is ahead, I’m going down with a club in my hands. I love writing about golf as much as I love playing it, and no matter how dreadful I play, I will be grateful that I decided to resume,)

This segues back to Tiger.

One of the strongest aspects of the 2018 season has been TW’s heart-felt gratitude for being able to return to competitive golf. He’s much more gracious now, he chats on the golf course with his fellow competitors, he even gives some fans moderate high fives while trudging from a green to the next tee. Not all the time, but certainly more than NEVER  as it used to be in the glory years.

I suck at predicting outcomes. Like you, I hope more than I know. Keen observers of the golf swing can tell you what is right and what is wrong. Astute observers and healers in the field of human nature can help you understand what is wrong, and how to make it more right. I dabble a bit in both, but I am no expert. 

Life, like golf, is not a game of perfect. Even though that is what we universally share .., that quest of the pure … Anyone can hit a great shot (or act well on stage) when they are ON. Golf (and life), however, is more about how good are you when you are off.

We have no better example than Tiger’s round yesterday. That 64 was will power. And guts. And desire. And if you can’t love how a player can grind with that much devotion and passion, drama and empathy are not your thing.

My strongest hope is that one day we will look back at yesterday’s second place finish and smile …. That Aug. 12, 2018, was the day that WE KNEW … just as Tiger knows. 

Sure. I’m a fan boy. But that does not prevent me from “seeing.”

Is Tiger Woods going to win another major?

What do you think?