When the sporting reviews get written for 2018 three great comeback stories will feature prominently.
Novak winning Slams for the 1st time in years, Tiger owning golf like he once always did and Usain reinventing himself as a top-flight professional footballer.
At least two of those seem certain anyway with Tiger’s story by far the most spectacular.
Before his Tour Championship victory last weekend there seemed more chance of Usain being signed to partner Messi at Barcelona than Tiger ever regaining his past golfing greatness.
But his tap-in on 18 brought back that beaming smile we hadn’t seen since, well, who can honestly remember.
He certainly didn’t look like a guy who’d just had a fortune in FedEx Cup prize money snatched from under his own sand wedge. If Justin Rose had 10 million reasons to be happy, Tiger needed just the one – win again.
And not just winning but taking out a top quality field in an event that mattered with the golf world watching.
The pressure on the man entering the final round would’ve been at a level most of us can’t even pretend to imagine. Never before as a pro had he blown a 3-shot lead after 54 holes.
Never. Just knowing that must of added even more angst to the self-doubt and mind-games he more than likely was wrestling with prior to tee-time.
One false shot, a lucky break for Rory, the sudden visible and dramatic draining of confidence that a missed putt or two can cause. Then there’s the crowd. Roaring on his rivals playing ahead of him on the course.
Relentless galleries so physically close all gawking and clicking their cameras, shouting out stupid dumb stuff while holding their hands out pleading for a palm slap on the way past.
For goodness sake. Are people really that moronic? The last thing he needs is your greasy paw rubbing all over him minutes before he’s about to play a precision shot to stay ahead.
What I’m saying is that mentally he held it together. For the first time in years he handled it all - the course, his opponents, the crowd, the pressure. He played like the guy that used to be Tiger Woods.
And I don’t know about you but I’ve long since lost any once fleeting interest in the salacious and sad side of his
private world. If the story isn’t about golf then I just don’t read the story. And this one has legs that’ll last all the way to Augusta in April.
It’s all about Tiger. Again.
And whether he can carry that winning form into one of the Big 4 next year is already golf’s next Major question.
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