You will watch Tiger Woods try to win his AT&T National because you just can’t turn away.
Maybe Woods isn’t the same player who dominated the PGA Tour in the past. Maybe the AT&T National, which begins Thursday at Congressional Country Club, isn’t the U.S. Open. No matter.
It’s still Tiger.
Four years have passed since Woods won a major. He crashed into a fire hydrant, got divorced after an ugly sex scandal, endured injuries and sometimes looked more lost than tourists on the Metro since winning the 2008 U.S. Open. As brightly as Woods once shined, the last four years largely have been spent in a black hole of scandal and scrutiny.
Yet Woods’ bad times are still better than most people’s good ones. So what if his income was cut in half last year vs. 2009? He still earned $59 million, third only to Floyd Mayweather’s $85 million and Manny Pacquiao’s $62 million.
The PGA Tour badly needs Woods to re-emerge. TV ratings and attendance lag without him. That red shirt coming down the fairway late on Sunday afternoons is a siren’s call to the faithful.
It’s all about whether Woods can win five more majors to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 and perhaps become known as the game’s greatest ever. It once seemed a given, but 15 different men have won the last 15 majors, and none was Woods.
Instead, he’s an aging 36-year-old who says he can win majors into his 50s, though Nicklaus’ last at 46 was considered one of golf’s shining moments. Fans want Woods to win those majors, at least one or two more to show the final years weren’t just some sad farewell tour for a washed-up star.
It seemed so close to happening at the U.S. Open last weekend. Tied atop the leader board after 36 holes, Woods’ chances became remote when a poor finish to the third round resulted in a 75. With a whisper of contention remaining when he teed off Sunday, he instead was 6-over par for the first six holes and ended up tied for 21st.
And yet everyone watched. Sometimes it wasn’t easy, but everyone watched.
Woods leads the tour in total driving and scoring average. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial. Against a lackluster AT&T National field that has seemingly worsened each year since Woods’ top-tiered competitors came in 2007 to christen the event, the tournament host could give himself the trophy. It happened in 2009, the last time it was at Congressional. The event spent two years in Philadelphia because Congressional hosted the 2011 U.S. Open.
It would be a popular scene.
Woods is the early 6-1 favorite to win the British Open on July 19-22, according to Ladbrokes. Even gamblers want to see him do well. Maybe Woods isn’t the titan of the past, but he’s still compelling. Washingtonians will see so first hand this week.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
