Tiger Woods :: did we miss him?

All eyes will be on the PGA Tour this week as Tiger Woods is set to return to action. The question is though: did we miss him?

Tiger has always divided opinion, especially after he slammed into that fire hydrant. These days you either love him or you hate him.

Some of your comments on our Facebook page.

But what does the future hold for Tiger Woods?

The majors

The bigger picture in the Tiger Woods story is the race for Jack Nicklaus’ record. Tiger needs five more majors to break Jack’s record, that’s five in eight years when compared with the timing of Jack’s final triumph. Phil Mickelson has managed five in over 20-years.

On tour

From a PGA Tour perspective seeing Tiger Woods competing most weeks on television is guaranteed to boost ratings for broadcasters. NBC posted a 3.3 rating for the final round of the U.S. Open. That’s a 46% decline if to last year’s final round when Woods was playing. You do the math.

The rivalries

Wood’s has never really had a major rival. Vijay Singh is possibly the only player who can claim to have held the tag. Ernie and Phil at a push.

When Martin Kaymer cruised to US Open victory at Pinehurst he did so with mental steel reminiscent of a youthful Tiger Woods. It seemed the rest of the field were playing for second place as the German remained unshakable at the top of the leaderboard. Does Kaymer’s win, and the success of world No.1 Adam Scott spell the end of Tiger Woods?

Do we miss him? Probably. But you’d need to go searching for some Woods love. His homepage – as you might expect – is full of ‘fan boys’. Some of them quote phrases from the Bible to show their support. Social media, though, is far from kind to the 14-time major champ. Whether that’s an excuse to troll and jump on an opportunity to point fingers and laugh is anybody’s guess.

Whatever the answer, Tiger Woods he gets people talking. However long that lasts is probably the bigger question.