{"id":508,"date":"2014-12-12T19:36:23","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T19:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.golfballs.com\/?p=508"},"modified":"2024-02-19T15:14:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T21:14:44","slug":"tiger-returns-what-did-we-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/tiger-returns-what-did-we-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Returns: What Did We Learn?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tiger<\/a>

Tiger Woods Returns at Hero World Challenge, image: sportingnews.com<\/p><\/div>\n

There is a lot that we can learn from the latest return of one of the most recognized names in professional golf. Tiger Woods kicked off his comeback campaign last week at the 2014 Hero World Challenge in Windermere, Florida.\u00a0 The four-round event \u2013 held at Isleworth Golf & Country Club \u2013 marked the first time that Tiger had played since the PGA Championship.<\/p>\n

And while the excitement from fans and commentators was well deserved, Tiger\u2019s performance over the weekend wasn’t exactly spectacular.\u00a0 In fact, the Big Cat finished in dead last at his own tournament (sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation), turning this Nike Golf<\/a> spokesperson into the only golfer to ever come in last place at a PGA Tour event while remaining upbeat and positive about the finish.<\/p>\n

Although it wasn’t the epic comeback story that high-budget Hollywood films are made of, there were still a lot of reasons for all of us to get excited about Tiger\u2019s return to the golf course.\u00a0 So what have we learned from Tiger\u2019s latest comeback attempt?<\/p>\n

No One Is Invincible<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is one thing that we can take away from Tiger\u2019s health problems, it\u2019s that anybody can be sidelined by injuries. Once upon a time, he seemed to be the epitome of physical fitness on the golf course for years, taking home scores of titles while overcoming ailments and injuries throughout his professional career.<\/p>\n

Seventy-nine PGA Tour events, fourteen majors victories, with his first major won at the tender age of 21\u2026 one could easily see how the 38-year-old golf pro seemed destined to bust right through Jack Nicklaus\u2019 long-held record of 18 majors. And he accomplished all of this in between surgeries that \u2013 beginning as far back as 2002 \u2013 were intended to relieve swelling, ACL issues, cartilage damage that affected his left knee, and neck problems.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, these types of injuries have a tendency to become major issues as golfers move into their thirties \u2013 especially for injury-prone golfers that are pushing forty.\u00a0 Regardless of Tiger\u2019s impeccable drive, outstanding work ethic and a competitive spirit that rivals the greats, there\u2019s no working through certain injuries, and Tiger\u2019s back proved to be his latest undoing.<\/p>\n

After a series of lower back issues that occasionally forced Woods to put away his clubs in early 2014, Woods\u2019 camp finally pulled the plug on his comeback attempt when in April of 2014 it was announced that Woods wouldn’t be making it to the Masters.\u00a0 This marked the first time that Tiger Woods had missed the esteemed tournament in his professional career.<\/p>\n

Comebacks Still Happen<\/strong><\/p>\n

After watching Tiger\u2019s back-and-forth ritual of golf course to operating room and back again for the last decade, it\u2019s easy to assume that the trend will only escalate as time goes on.<\/p>\n

On the surface, it may seem like all of the determination in the world can\u2019t keep the Big Cat away from the injuries, surgeries and chronic pain that have put a damper on his professional career at a time where he needs a solid comeback.<\/p>\n

However, time and again Tiger is stricken with an injury or ailment, he evaluates what he needs to do to get back on the course, follows through with his rehab and physical therapy, and gets right back to work.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost as if he thrives on the challenges that playing with these issues present. Even looking back at his performance at the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods was reportedly sick with flu-like symptoms during the entire tournament.<\/p>\n

And even that couldn’t keep him away from the course.\u00a0 We\u2019d like to hope that eventually these ailments are going to give up on Tiger altogether, allowing him to compete at an optimal level once again.<\/p>\n

Tiger has certainly taught us that you can\u2019t keep a good golfer down.\u00a0 If he can avoid the sidelines through 2015, I think we\u2019ll be in for quite a show as he puts his new Nike golf clubs<\/a> and balls to good use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a lot that we can learn from the latest return of one of the most recognized names in professional golf. Tiger Woods kicked off his comeback campaign last week at the 2014...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,4],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-news","tag-tiger-woods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":513,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}