Tiger Woods's Demise: The Premature Label Placed on the GOAT

As an avid Tiger Woods fan since he won The Masters back in 1997, I can no longer hold back.  I'm tired of the ridicule. I'm tired of the media saying he'll never be the same again.  I'm tired of hearing he doesn't have that 'clutch factor' anymore.  And I'm fed up of hearing about his 'demise.'

Calm down about Tiger, Mr Bayless!

I'd like to address a couple debatable quotes from the Great Debator of our time, Mr Skip Bayless.  Unquestionably he wouldn't stand a chance against Frederick Douglass, but people like him are what we must endure in the 21st century.  Below are several tweets Mr Bayless has tweeted about Tiger, followed by my responses:

Skip: Shockingly, Tiger's competitive nature has been turned upside down: He now contends on Thurs/Fri of majors (-8 for yr), fades Sat/Sun (+15).

Although the above statistics are disappointing coming from arguably the best player in the world, I don't think they represent a significant enough sample size to make an assumption about Tiger's competitive nature.  Judging by Tiger's demeanor on the course, it's pretty safe to say he is one of the most competitive golfers in the business.  Furthermore, his recent results prove that he can contend just fine. Tiger shot 68-66 on the weekend to finish 8th at WGC-Bridgestone August 2nd-5th, after shooting a very mediocre 70-72 the first two rounds.  Woods then proceeded to score poorly at the PGA Championship, but followed that up with a -18, scoring 68-66 on the weekend at the Deutche Bank Championship three weeks later, taking third place behind Rory McIlroy and Louis Oosthuizen.

Skip: Now Tiger has 2 hurdles to pass Jack's record: 1) His own lost confidence on Saturday/Sundays of majors & 2) Rory, at 23 a young Tiger.

Keep expecting big things from the best in the world and GOAT

You can rave all you want about Rory, but be wary when comparing him to the greatest golfer of all time.  Remember, Tiger is the career money leader on the PGA Tour, 2nd in PGA tour victories, and 2nd in major championship victories. Also, he's only 36 year's old.  Woods could conceivably contend for the next ten years, maybe longer.  Heck, Ernie Els just won The Open Championship at age 42, and Tom Watson nearly won it several years ago!  Next, this is Tiger's first season 2007 that he's been healthy, and he's 2nd on the PGA Tour money list behind Rory, and 2nd in scoring average too.  Also note he was leading Rory in both those categories before Rory's win last weekend.

Skip: Tiger has become Biggest Tease in Sports, winning Arnie's tourney pre-Masters, Jack's pre-Open, his pre-British. Flashes greatness ... fades

It hurts to say that, but Tiger has been a tease in majors this year.  However, he still been in contention in most of these events.   Woods finished 11th in the PGA Championship, 3rd in the Open Championship, and 21st in the US Open, starting fast on Thursday and Friday but fading a bit on the weekends.  However, the fact that he is in contention in these events is what's important to me.  Tiger will undeniably start scoring better in these events next year assuming he can stay healthy, as he'll have the confidence of a completely healthy, successful season behind him.