Tiger Woods – the elder man
Play evolves and times change, even if one is the face of the game. Moreover, as one becomes older, a newer generation of players streams in (and we’re talking about Dustin Hoffman here).
When they hit harder and longer than you do now, there are three ways to take it – feel threatened, resent and live with it, or become the elder man.
Tiger Woods is too large to be the first, and too much of the game to be the second. 2012 has been a great season for golf, with Woods’ comeback a smashed SUV and messy divorce later.
Nonetheless, the return has been as spectacular as ever, with some classic, electrifying swings that makes golf without Woods, even pushing past 40, considerably barren.
He has come back to win on the PGA Tour three times, after a two-year victory drought, that also witnessed the termination of his 12-year partnership with his long time caddie and friend, Steve Williams.
These victories came after earlier predictions that his adulterous ways had spelled doom for his career well before he turned forty, despite having had checked himself into various s*x clinics.
All that notwithstanding, a return to golf has also brought along a change in roles for OWGR’s no. 3.
His partnership with Sean Foley, given Woods’ usual show of dominance out on the green, has worked well, with zero cuts missed and more than $6 million coming in bloating the coffers.
In addition, there are whispers of the grand Woods’ ‘re-igniting’ the longtime dream of chasing down and surpassing Jack Nicklaus’ record. Well there is talk, at least.
Woods’ approach to the game has changed. With an aging and oft-injured body, there is little hope in being the go-getter that his technique used to exemplify, typically the younger man, gunning after the older pros.
He is the older pro now. The elder statesman. Moreover, he has seasons of advice to give, especially to reigning champion Rory McIlroy, whom he sees as his heir apparent.
There is a great deal he sees in the 23-year old Irishman. His swing, and attitude towards playing the game, has been acknowledged on a number od occasions.
Woods sees him as someone who has the talent that would make the game a feat for the other players whilst bringing out the best in them.
He looks to pass on the game to McIlroy, the “kid”, who would, in turn, often tease him about a receding hairline.
“You pass knowledge on,” Woods said recently. “It's not something that we hold and are going to keep sacred. We pass it on from one generation to the next. That's what we do”.
There is no reason for Woods to be quitting the sport that made him a billionaire. Although there is a change in roles now, the younger players will look to benefit in the seasons ahead.
He may not be the biggest hitter out there anymore. Testimony to which he gave himself, "It's a totally different game now. The bigger hitters can hit the ball 320 in the air. I don't really have that".
In a later event, he added, "I’m now getting more towards grizzled". Nevertheless, he sure has plenty to contribute whilst still playing the game.
Club in hand, out on the manicured green, with his flock of new generation golfers trailing close behind, a lot like Moses (except the green), forever etched in our memories, and the ones to follow, as the biggest name in golf there ever was.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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