The thing Tiger Woods has had going for him his whole life is that he is young. He was young when he played golf with Bob Hope on TV, he was young when he won the U.S. Amateur, he was young when he won at Augusta, and he was young when he won five majors, then 10, then 14.
Today Tiger Woods turns 40.
I’ve been a fan of Tiger Woods for 20 years. Since he was, you know… young.
I was young too.
I feel as though Tiger Woods needs me now as a fan, and I’ve written about this before. Tiger Woods is somehow now an underdog, like Tom Brady and LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hit a home run on his 40th birthday, remember, one of 33 he hit during last year’s turn-around season.
Does Woods have it in him to play at that level again? Maybe not 57 home runs in a season, but 33? My God, it’s golf! String together four good days and you can win when you’re 60.
Woods will likely play a limited schedule this season (doesn’t he always?) following his second back operation in two years. Put that on top of about a dozen knee surgeries, an ACL, MCL, Achilles, “elbow strain,” and various bouts of mental and physical exhaustion, and yeah, I begin to doubt his ability to play competitively again let alone win.
But if anyone can do it it’s this guy, even when he’s 100.
He’s still golf’s number one attraction, even on crutches.
And even when he’s no longer… young.