What if tiger the golfer is never the same?

[sillywilly]

what do you expect tiger to do when he comes back???

i have no clue what he will do, Obviously I hope he comes back. I've seen to many GREAT players (maybe the best) get injured and not reach the heights they could have reached.

a few names come to mind.
*mario lemieux has put up numbers comparable to grez but played far fewer games and personally i think he was a better hockey player than gretz
*Grant hill would have been counted amoungst the NBA greats but with so many injuries and surgeries he hasn't done much the last 10 years. He was averaging over 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals over his first 5 seasons... those are the same numbers as lebron's first 5 years except he is 5 points per game lower... the rest of the stats are the same.
*cam neely was a point a game player in boston. Those are hard to find. 3 time 50 goal scorer. pretty much did it back to back to back since he was injured for two season after he did it twice... did it in 49 games the 3rd time. what would he have done if he didn't leave the game early?

obviously you can't compare what these guys went through with what tiger is going through because these guys played their hearts out and played until they couldn't play anymore. It was physical for these guys. if tiger leaves early or isn't the player he was before its all mental (and his own fault) so its not the same but I personally would feel a bit robbed of seeing something great if he didn't return the same or better... the same way I felt about mario, grant hill and neely. I don't however feel bad for tiger as I do for these guys.

[jonf]

first full year on tour he gets the grand slam

[sillywilly]

first full year on tour he gets the grand slam

wow, i hope you are right but golf is such a mental game... how do you stay mentally strong when your life has fallen apart and everyone is looking at you differently?

[jonf]

my theory is this. His marriage is no more (or won't be for long)...so he won't have that to worry about. He no longer has to worry about keeping his 18 different lives separate, or putting on a show for the cameras. There are no more plates to keep spinning.

He also has nothing but time on his hands to work on his game, and has a lot to prove. He's going to lose a lot of money, and the only way to regain that is to conquer the golfing world yet again. From what I've seen of him, he's not going to take criticism lying down, and will use this as motivation to prove that he was worth all those endorsements and all that praise, regardless of what an ass he is.

The other option is that he crumbles and is never heard from again.

[SGH]

How to you stay mentally strong when you're cheating on your pregnant wife?

I think he'll be fine.

[goochy]

I think he will come back about the same as a golfer because he won't come back until he is ready...even if that takes a long time.

I think a grand slam of majors is massively unlikely as it always has been...there's a reason it has never been done in the modern era, but if anyone can I am sure Woods is the most likely.

I'm more interested to see how he is received when he comes back. I'm sure fans will be more divided than ever into the pro/anti Woods camps. I hope he tries to be a bit more personable and let his guard down a little. The man only ever speaks in soundbites, his press conferences are stage managed in the extreme with threats from his agents to exclude any press who don't follow his rules.

I obviously have huge respect for him as a golfer....but as a bloke....I didn't find his image particularly likeable before (the surliness, the over managed image, the lack of warmth towards fans) and nothing in the past 40 days or so has made him any more likeable in my eyes.

I know the argument...the doesn't "have to" be classy with the fans and press, that's not what he is paid for but neither does Mickelson, Harrington, etc and Palmer, Nicklaus etc before them. Look at Garcia, he is so open with his feelings and honest with his thoughts that he gets slated for that, which I find strange.

However, I would find it much easier to cheer for a sportsman who is good and likeable. IMO Woods only meets half that equation.

[mjf]

first full year on tour he gets the grand slam

I'll take that bet!

[nokids]

he will have a lot of distractions in America but i think he'll be fine overseas. i say he wins the British open because the English wont heckle him; this summer all the hooligans will be in South Africa.

[goochy]

he will have a lot of distractions in America but i think he'll be fine overseas. i say he wins the British open because the English wont heckle him; this summer all the hooligans will be in South Africa.

The Open is at St.Andrews this year....those Scots can be a rowdy bunch... (well they are at Murryfield and Hampden Park anyway...at the golf I think they will be respectful and knowledgable as always)

[big mac]

Quite honestly I couldn't give a if he never came back. Seriously----all he had to do was be a man and own up to a mistake in person---as far as I'm concerned. I wonder if there will be a " cheer or a boo" when he is announced on the first tee----whenever.

[sensfan63]

I love this thread, only because sillywilly said that Grant Hill had the same stats as LeBron James his first five years in the NBA, the exact same stats......except that LeBron averaged 5 more points per game (like it's an insignificant difference!).

[sillywilly]

jason kidd doesn't even score 10 points a game... he must suck

Grant hills stats were unreal...until lebron came along. They say lebron is gonna be better than jordan so to be within 5 points of him while having the rest of your stats the same is pretty damn impressive. Hill was def on his way to a career similar to dirks if not better