The Return of the King

Nike recently introduced Rory McIlory as their $250 million man, placing him on their elusive throne alongside Tiger Woods. For many, this signaled the shift in the golfing world. The young phenom was set to make his mark and finally clear the exit path for the old geezer. Only, we're not talking about any ordinary old geezer. In fact, we're talking about the greatest individual sports player in the history of sports whose fame will never be matched no matter how good this Rory kid thinks he is or how much money Nike pumps into his bloodstream. Now I know it's been written previously about my adoration with Tiger and this article is not serving to dispel these notions. I have no reservations and never will, in claiming that Tiger is indeed the greatest athlete we will ever see in the history of professional sports. But it's not even necessary for me to plead my case to you because Tiger can do it himself. In fact, he's doing that as we speak.

It may seem preemptive to hand Tiger the title at Torrey Pines before Monday's conclusion at the Farmer's Insurance Open but it'd be downright stupid to not give it to him. With another 11 meaningless holes to play and a 6-stroke lead in his hands, it's more than safe to say that Tiger will get his record 8th win at Torrey Pines, which by the way is the most by any PGA professional on a single golf course. In addition, he'll inch closer to Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA tour wins, which he is sure to break. I know the claim that Tiger is "back" has been made time and time again and I am more guilty than anyone of making this claim but as we've witnessed over this past weekend, Tiger was really never gone. Instead, he took a brief hiatus to give guys like Rory and Lee and Luke a chance to taste what winning is like before he decided to come back and retake what is rightly his.

Watching Tiger at Torrey has been nothing short of spectacular. He still gives you the shivers with his wayward tee shots and questionable short game but -17 over 3+ rounds certainly does not lie. And Torrey is no baby course either. It's hosted its fair share of tournaments, including the 08' U.S. Open (which Tiger won, mind you). But what is Tiger if not for the dramatic. We salivate when he fans his tee shots and cower in fear over how he'll be able to recover. Yet, somehow he always does. Like clockwork, he turns the impossible into the possible. It should no longer be a surprise when Tiger pulls off the unthinkable like his birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie stretch during the second round. It should no longer be a surprise when Tiger converts every par 5 into an eagle or birdie hole. It should no longer be a surprise when Tiger leads the field in par 3 scoring, par 5 scoring, driving distance, total driving. I could go on and on and on but there's simply way to argue the claim that Tiger is indeed the best that ever will be.

Some may claim that this is the return of Tiger yet again and I aptly chose to label this article as such. But after much thought, I believe that calling it a return is inaccurate. It's something much greater, much bigger than just a return. For Tiger to return would mean that he would have had to leave at some point and hand over his kingship to his heir apparent. While Rory would like to believe that he made his own stake to this claim, it is simply not to be. Even at the old age of 37, Tiger is still and will always be the greatest. Come tomorrow evening, we'll be congratulating Tiger on his return to victory and career win number 75. We'll also begin talk over his increased odds of winning at Augusta come April. So could you really call it a "return of the king" when one simple victory inspires such discussion? Like I've said before; don't call it a comeback and definitely don't call it a return. This is Tiger we're talking about.