The PGA season really kicks off this weekend when the first true field will show up for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. By true field I mean when Tiger Woods is at least in the field and as I think about that impulse, I realize I miss Tiger Woods. I miss the Tiger Woods pre Nov 09. I miss the Tiger that was a natural born killer with a golf club. I miss the Tiger that dominated golf for well over a decade. I miss the Tiger who wins four majors in a row. I miss the Tiger who wins the 2000 US Open by 15 strokes. I miss the Tiger who tears his ACL during the 08 finishes Sunday tied and goes out and wins on Monday with another 18. I miss the Tiger who wins majors. I miss the Tiger when he went into the weekend with a lead his victory was as sure as the sunrise. I miss the Tiger Woods that eviscerated paired opponents mearly with his presence. I miss the Tiger who made it a fair question of him or the field every week he showed up. I miss Tiger.
After the events of that November 09 night something changed in Tiger mentally. Being drug threw the mud in tabloids, on the internet, beauty shops, and every water cooler in America. His extensive extra martial affairs were the worlds gossip fodder. The drama and snowball had grown so huge he spent weeks at a rehab center for his sex addiction. All of this was the first time anyone associated the name Tiger Woods with anything other than perfection. It was first time Tiger had been cast in a light that could bring him shame. First time that Tiger showed that he was human. A human who has vices and makes bad decisions. Yet a human whose closet gets cleaned by the world with a microscope. He had swung every female opinion against in a weekend. Through all this the killer inside Tiger died. His eyes don't show that fierceness they once resonated. He doesn't stalk the golf course with the same swagger as he once did. Could he return to the level of dominating play we had all grown accustomed too?
It's been three years since that November and it finally feels like he is close again. I had worried at times his mental focus that set him apart from every other mortal with a golf club was lost forever. That his ears had grown too large that he listens and worries too much what people have to say about him. But with 4 wins and 10 top 3 finishes last year he seems to be turning the corner. As with all wounds time can heal them all. As the time passed the public scrutiny faded and questions focused back on his game and not on his blackberry. As that time has gone Tiger has shown he can close out tournaments again but can he close majors. Cause Tiger knows better than anyone if he doesn't get to 19 majors than he can stake claim to summit of golf gods. That 19 majors is what its going to take to slay the golden bear and lay to rest any discussion whose the beat golfer of all time.
So Tiger debuts on the PGA this weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Where he has won 7 times the most any player has won at a single course. But while I'm excited to see him play I'm eager for the second weekend in April. When he returns to the familiar grounds of Augusta. The same grounds that way back 1997 that he began his assault on the record books of golf. I'm curious to see if he's ready in 2013 to return to winning majors. I miss seeing Tiger in that Sunday red closing the day at the top of the leader board. I miss the Tiger Championship swagger. In 2012 we got a hint of it, and in 2013 I'm ready to see it.
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