Hard to believe that another year has come and gone, boy time really flies when you get older.
Many wonder how good 2010 is going to be after the shaky ending to 2009 with the economy being the way it was and the Tiger Woods saga. If you asked anyone on November 15th there thoughts on 2010 you would have gotten a bullish answer. But with Woods on indefinite leave, there will be a lot of advertisers and sponsors that may also take indefinite leaves. So let's take a look into my crystal ball and I will tell you what to look forward too.
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Players - Tiger Woods
Photo: © Ezra Shaw/Getty Images | | Tiger Woods and family in better times just a week before the accident that changed everything in the life of his Woods. |
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We all know that Tiger Woods is on indefinite leave for 2010, but what does that mean? Frankly, nobody knows. The whole saga has reach such a flash point at this time it's close to impossible to think that Woods could return in the next couple of months, without Woods doing some explaining. The question then is, does Woods even have it in his arsenal to be able to tell us all what happened? Nobody can answer that but Tiger, but I don't think that Woods would go into any kind of public form and admit any wrong doings. So could this mean that Woods will take the rest of the year off, let things die down and reappear at his event at Chevron in December?
Lets say that Woods figures it out in the next couple of weeks and decides to play in the majors. Some say that the safest place for Woods to return will be the Masters, which has total control over not only the fans that attend the championship but the media. It won't be easy for Woods to return but at least at Augusta National he will get the most protection inside the gates than any other event in golf.
Still there is a degree of problems with the Masters. Yes the odds are slim that Woods would face a press room with reporters from the National Enquirer, Radaronline or the new TMZ sports, but he still will have to face a room with a lot of eager media folks that haven't gotten any answers in this scandal and there is still the tabloid press that have been a part of golf from day one. So the questions will be as ugly and confrontational in a open form, so I feel that Woods will try not to talk with all of the media and will allow a limited access conference that will be televised. No idea if either the Masters or even the PGA Tour will allow that to happen.
As for being on the course, he still has to walk among the people. Yes Augusta patrons have a lot at stake, many have long relationships in purchasing tickets for decades. Any hint of problems could cause their Masters access to be turned off, still Masters badges have been sold by patrons for years now, yes it may cost a lot of money but if someone wants to buy a badge they can do so and still have access to Woods to say or display their displeasure.
We all know the special power that Woods has over being able to concentrate better than anybody else, but with all that has happened, can Woods regain this skill. Can he completely erase the scandal for 18 holes and only focus in on golf? And his opponents, they now sense the distraction and feel that Woods is vulnerable. Look at how Y.E. Yang was able to handle Woods in winning the PGA Championship, I can see this happening a lot. Could that create long term damage to Woods mystique?
One other item that really hasn't been discussed, what is the state of his legs? Woods has told the media that his surgical repaired leg was pain-free, is that the truth when he is having a doctor give him treatments? Could his leg of been hurt over the summer and Tiger not tell anyone? These are questions that many would like answered. Who knows if the leg hurts him now and he has had some sort of a setback, maybe a year off the legs is needed and will help them fully heal.
My personal take on this is that it's more complicated than we all can imagine. I feel that there is a 1 in 4 chance of him coming back by the Masters, a 2 in 4 chance of him coming back in time for the U.S. Open and a 2 in 4 chance that we don't see him until the Chevron next December. As for the state of his game, I can't foresee him coming back and struggle to make the cut. If he does come back and when that happens, look for Woods to contend, he will only play if he is 100% ready to go.
