Tiger plays, we watch. Tiger speaks, we listen
Tiger Woods sightings were sparse in 2023, but that did not keep him from captivating the golf world with his presence
Looking back, 2023 was not the Year of the Tiger.
Officially, that was 2022 on Chinese calendars. The next Year of the Tiger won’t come until 2034 … so don’t hold your breath.
Yet it sure felt like the Year of the Tiger if you watched the PNC Championship, the made-for-TV parent-child golf tournament that aired last weekend. NBC took us back to the days of all-Tiger-all-the-time because Tiger Woods and his son, Charlie, got the bulk of the television coverage and the attention.
In NBC’s defense, you’ve got to give the people what they want. And they still want Tiger Woods. There’s an unspoken, disturbing sense of urgency about this because we don’t want to admit that Woods’ body is fragile and every time we see him play (not to sound morbid) might be the last time.
Meanwhile, here’s some trivia you might have missed during the latest Tiger-Charlie eclipse: Bernhard Langer and his son Jason won the tournament. It was Langer’s fifth PNC title, his third with Jason as partner.
You probably saw the highlight of Charlie chipping in during the final round more often than you saw any of the Langers. Or when Charlie knocked it on the green on that par 4. Compelling stuff.
It was not Woods’ finest year and yet, despite being off the grid from mid-April to October as his ankle mended, he managed to finish second in the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program, a dubious social media scoring system that is merely a device to deliver multi-million-dollar bonuses — some might say bribes — to the Tour’s top players so they don’t bolt to LIV Golf the way Jon Rahm did. (Although Rahm took his PIP money and left, anyway.)
In short, Tiger Woods is still Tiger Woods. He is still, by far, golf’s biggest attraction.
Maybe now is a good time to recall this Year in Tiger News:
FEBRUARY: Tiger Woods, golf designer, scores a nice gig. His company, TGR Designs, lands a deal to design a course at Marcella Club in Park City, Utah, on a site that will ultimately have two 18-holers. The first TGR (that’s TiGeR abbreviated, in case you didn’t get it) course will tip out at over 8,000 yards.
Takeaway: If orange is the new black, 8,000 yards is the new 7,000 yards as the line of demarcation that separates a serious layout from just another country club. Tiger says the ball goes too far and since the ball flies even farather at altitude in Utah, he’s taking no chances.
FEBRUARY: Tiger the Merry Prankster goes viral for the wrong reason during the Genesis Invitational’s first round. He is paired with his good pal, Justin Thomas. When Woods mashes a drive 10 yards past his buddy, he hands Thomas something, which Thomas looks at and throws to the ground. It is a tampon, the sophomoric punchline to Tiger outdriving Thomas. Tiger laughs hysterically at this but, predictably, it plays poorly on social media. Tiger apologizes the next day.
“It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn’t turned out that way,” Woods said. “I’m sorry if I offended anybody in any way, shape or form.”
What is bigger news is that Tiger hits eight drives beyond 300 yards, birdies the last three holes to post 69 and gets the attention of Rory McIlroy, the group’s third member.
“I’m going to go work on the range,” McIlroy said. “I put my driver up a click in loft to start the week, I might turn it back down again. I don’t like him (Tiger) hitting it by me.”
Takeaway: Tiger’s ill-advised prank is bad frat party humor. Surely, Tiger can trash-talk better than that. But let’s not miss the Big Thing here: Tiger hit some drives past J.T. or Rory. He’s not just dinkin’ it. There’s hope, in other words.
FEBRUARY: You can practically feel the adrenaline rush during the third round of the Genesis Invitational. Tiger shoots 67, his lowest score since October 2020. For Woods, that two-and-a-half-year span covers only five tournament appearances.
“I’ve been in front of large crowds before but not 10,000 people who are rooting for one guy in the group,” said Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who is paired with Woods.
Sunday, Woods shoots a back-to-reality 73 and doesn’t finish in the top 40. “My streak continues at Riv,” joked Woods, who debuted at this tourney at Riviera Country Club as a high schooler but has never won it. On the plus side, it’s the first time he played all 72 holes since the previous year’s Masters.
Takeaway: Well, it’s a start, kinda-sorta. At least he still wears red on Sunday, so that hasn’t changed.
MARCH: The pre-Masters buildup is in full swing and McIlroy has to laugh at the frequent Woods questions. “It’s hard not to root for the underdog,” McIlroy said. “But that underdog is Tiger Woods.”
Takeaway: Someday, maybe in your late 40s or maybe sooner, you’ll morph into an underdog, too, Rors. Just wait and see.
EARLY APRIL: Woods makes the cut in the Masters Tournament … then has to withdraw because his ankle is too painful.
Takeaway: This can’t be good.
MID-APRIL: Good observation, genius. It isn’t good. Woods has surgery within a week after the Masters to fuse his subtalar joint, just below the ankle joint. Jason Day reveals that Tiger told him he pulled out of the 2022 PGA Championship in mid-tournament because one of the screws holding his ankle bones together poked through the skin.
Takeaway: That is a cringe-worthy image. It makes you wonder, was that it? Was this Masters Tiger’s last stand? Inquiring minds want to know… and they’re concerned.
AUGUST: Woods has gone dark during his recovery but suddenly accepts a position on the PGA Tour’s Policy Board as a sixth player director. That means players will have final say on future board decisions. This move comes in response to the startling June 6 announcement of a framework agreement with rival LIV Golf.
Takeaway: Is it too early to suggest this — Tiger for PGA Tour commissioner? Yeah, probably. Jay Monahan isn’t ready to give up his $18-million-a-year payday just yet, certainly not when the Saudis might want to throw a bunch more money in the Tour’s direction.
NOVEMBER: A viral video shows Tiger walking with little to no limp as he spends a weekend caddying for Charlie at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship. Woods makes it around for all four days, admitting he is pretty sore and half-jokes, “It was a flat course, thank god.”
Takeaway: Rush to judgment: Maybe Tiger is going to be able to play again after all. Asking for a friend … what are his odds to win the 2024 Masters?
NOVEMBER: A few days after Tiger’s turn at caddie, Charlie helps his high school golf team win the Florida Class A state championship at Mission Resort & Club. Dad attends as a spectator. Charlie, a 14-year-old freshman, ties for 26th individually and posts the fourth-best score among his Benjamin School teammates. Tiger never won a high school title because California didn’t have a golf championship at the time so Charlie has one-upped Dad with this win.
Takeaway: Yeah but he’s already behind pace on dad’s three Junior Am Championships in a row. Then there’s the three more U.S. Am titles and, well, forget it. There’s not going to be another Tiger, not even if it’s his offspring. Just like there’s not going to be another Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. Tell Charlie to just enjoy his life and don’t look at social media.
NOVEMBER: The other shoe drops, a familiar and expected one, as TGL finally announces Tiger is a player and co-owner of the sixth and final TGL team. TGL is a made-for-TV competition featuring top players competing at simulator golf but using an actual green and chipping area for short game shots, all of it beneath a domed structure in south Florida. The fact that Tiger is going to play makes it can’t-miss TV, many believe. McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott are among other players signed up. Tiger’s franchise will be called Jupiter Links Golf Club.
Takeaway: What kind of lame team name is that? Why not the Jupiter Tigers? Or simply Team Tiger? Merchandisers would love that. Whoever came up with this team name probably also thought up The Niblicks for LIV Golf. Weak sauce.
NOVEMBER: Finally, Tiger gives us a health update six months after his surgery when he does a press conference before the Hero World Challenge. He says his ankle is fine, the pain from that is completely gone. But … “All the surrounding areas are where I had problems and still do,” he said. “So you fix one, others have to become hypermobile to get around it and it can lead to some issues.”
Takeaway: In other words, the ankle is better but that means another piece of his body will be next to go. Is this the worst game of dominoes ever or what?
NOVEMBER: Tiger also has to address the PGA Tour-LIV framework agreement in the pre-Hero media session. He tries to be polite but there is no way he can’t help but partially step on tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s neck. “I’m sure a lot of players were taken aback,” Tiger says. “It was just thrown out there so quickly without any input or information. I was very surprised with that process. We were very frustrated and we took steps to ensure that players were not going to be left out of the process like we were … We can’t let that happen again … I think Jay (Monahan) understands what happened can’t happen again and it won’t happen again.”
Takeaway: Message to the commissioner and the rest of the Tour suits: There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s gonna clean up this saloon.
NOVEMBER: Ex-Tiger girlfriend Erica Herman drops her lawsuits against Woods and the trust that owns his Florida beachfront mansion. If you recall, Tiger changed the estate’s locks when Herman left town so she couldn’t get in when she returned. She also states for the record that she was never a victim of sexual harassment or abuse by Tiger and never made that claim (although her attorney did). Case closed.
Takeaway: Celebrity dating: It’s just as messy as normal-people dating, only minus the beachfront mansions.
NOVEMBER: The roof falls in, literally, on TGL, the indoor simulator league founded by Tiger, McIlroy and Mike McCarthy, the former Golf Channel-NBC exec, not the Dallas Cowboys’ coach. A power system fails during construction of the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and poof! The dome deflates. There are no injuries but TGL officials postpone the league’s start until 2025. Tiger issues a statement that says he’s still confident in the concept, blah-blah-blah. Good, because a lot of money is already invested by big names such as Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons owner; Fenway Sports Group, Boston Red Sox owner; tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams; Steph Curry; Justin Timberlake; Tony Romo and others.
Takeaway: This is yet another way in which Tiger is different from us. He is in favor of inflation. His dome requires it.
DECEMBER: Only 20 players tee it up in the Hero World Challenge, the event Tiger hosts annually in the Bahamas. About all we can say is congrats to Tiger on a top-20 finish. He places a disappointing 18th, 20 strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler. The big news is Woods walks 72 holes over four days without obvious discomfort. So that counts as a win, almost. “I was excited each day to start piecing rounds together again,” Woods said. “It was fun to feel that again.”
Takeaway: So Tiger is 100-1 odds to win the Masters at DraftKings.com? And the game’s greatest player can walk 72 holes without limping in? Can somebody loan me a hundred bucks?
DECEMBER: The PNC Championship is a good show. Tiger and Charlie shoot 61 in the final round and tie for fifth. Tiger’s upper body looks as muscled up as it was in his 2007 heyday when he got hooked on weightlifting. Key tidbit: Tiger says he was able to work out in the gym the day after the Hero World Challenge and resume training and hitting balls right away afterward. That’s a major step forward. Tiger still knocks it past 300 off the tee and has flashes of other brilliance.
“I know if I can practice, I can still do it,” he said. “I can still hit the ball, I can still chip, I can still putt. Granted, it’s putting it all together for 72 holes that’s the challenging part.”
He hopes to play a tournament a month in 2024, presumably starting with the Genesis at Riviera.
Takeaway: This is starting to feel like genuine, can’t-hold-it-back optimism floating around Tiger. It could be fool’s gold but what if it isn’t? About that loan regarding his 100-1 odds in the Masters — better make it five hundred bucks.
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MORE FROM GARY VAN SICKLE
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> Tiger, Tiger, Tiger ... it's Tiger time
> LIV Golf players want rankings? Well, here you go
> Won't you be my sim neighbor?
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Editor’s note: Every other Wednesday — in addition to your regular Saturday edition — Gary Van Sickle shares his stories and opinions about golf as a regular contributor to The First Call. Van Sickle has covered more than 200 majors for golf publications such as Golf World and Sports Illustrated, so he knows a little something about the game.
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Agree others are worth showing but the media reflects the public's interest. Tiger draws the crowds, gets the ratings, moves the needle. This is no different than Jack late in his career. People wanted to see him no matter where he stood in tournament. Thx for reading--vans
The Media has always and will continue to cherish Tiger and everything he does. I find it rather puzzling that regardless of the event, Tiger gets more screen time than the guys finishing at the top of the leaderboard. Often the camera will be focused on Tiger throwing grass in the air to determine his next shot even though he is closer to last place rather than first place. There are others that are worth seeing.