One of the most influential athletes in American sports history has admitted that we may never see him play again.
On Wednesday, Tiger Woods was asked by a reporter, “Could you see a scenario where you would not come back to competitive golf?”
Woods, with a smile on his face, responded “Yeah, definitely.”
The 41-year-old was taking questions at a press conference at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. He’s there to serve in a non-playing role as assistant captain in the U.S. Presidents Cup.
Woods hasn’t taken a full golf swing since his back surgery 6 months ago, and last competitive round of golf was at the Dubai Desert Classic this past February (withdrawing prior to the second round). And his last win? The 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.
The downfall of the superstar began in the early morning of November 27, 2009 with the Escalade-Crash-Heard-Around-The-World, which eventually peeled back the curtains of the previously sterling athlete. The truth came out, revealing Woods to be a serial adulterer. The shine of maybe the most marketable athlete ever, was now tarnished forever. Woods never recovered. Flash forward to this summer, Woods was found by police asleep behind the wheel of a car, on suspicion of DUI. The toxicology reports showed multiple drugs in his system. He then agreed to enter a diversion program to settle his driving while intoxicated charges.
Woods sits 2nd all-time in major victories with 14. He was able to accomplish that in a span from 1997 to 2008. Compared to Jack Nicklaus’ 18 major victories in a span from 1962 to 1986.
Tiger Woods may be the most dominant athlete I’ll ever see in my lifetime. Forget about his 14 major victories, and endless number of accolades he’s acquired over his short-lived, illustrious golf career. One accomplishment of Woods’ stands out above all. He made golf compelling. That’s hard to do.