Is Tiger Back?

If you haven't heard, Tiger Woods won the AT&T National on Sunday. So naturally, people all over the internet are saying he's back. Just like he was when he won the Memorial in June. But in my mind, Tiger isn't back, and he never will be.

To say that someone is back, means they have returned to their original state. I'm not saying Tiger won't win another major, or majors, but he'll never dominate the way he did.  For one, he's older, he's had injuries, and his mindset isn't the same. Add in to the equation that he's now facing golfers who never had to go up against him in his prime, and there isn't the same "fear" of facing Tiger as there used to be. Also, it seems as though he knows or believes he can beat anyone on tour. He just doesn't play with the same confidence. Put it this way, e won 10 majors from 2000-2006, that's 25% folks. That kind of run will never be duplicated by anyone. People say never say never, well I'm saying never. It won't happen.

I don't need to go into the whole scandal thing, and how that really screwed him up. We all know that. Sure, Tiger still has the potential to win on a weekly basis, but so does everyone else. Tiger used to beat his opponents. Now, it seems as though for him to win, his opponents have to beat themselves. This isn't the Tiger I remember. Sunday was a perfect example. Bo Van Pelt had the opportunity to put Tiger away, or at least grab an outright lead, but he couldn't close. Tiger benefited from Van Pelt's miscues. That isn't to suggest Tiger didn't deserve to win, he absolutely did. But he just doesn't win in the same fashion he used to.

I'm one of the people who still have trouble saying Tiger is the greatest golfer of all time. Is he in the conversation? Absolutely. Can I argue that he is the greatest ever? Sure I can. He still has plenty of time left to win more tournaments, including majors. But he'll never be "back." It's just not possible.

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