OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
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WINTER 2017
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obsports.com
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TOUR REPORT
to Nicklaus. He led the PGA Tour
money list 10 times, was PGA Player of
the Year 11 times, is golf's all-time
leading money winner and has spent
more weeks ranked No. 1 than any
golfer in history.
And yet, we wonder what might
have been.
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THE FIGHTER
How many more tournaments and
majors and money would Woods have
owned had he stayed healthy? Among
the downs in Tiger's life are significant
MIA periods in the prime of his career.
Somehow, he claimed the 2008 U.S.
Open, despite playing on a double
stress fracture in his left leg and a torn
anterior cruciate ligament in his left
knee. He had missed two months prior
to that for a knee surgery, then took the
rest of the year off to heal knee and leg.
Following a reasonably successful
return to tournament golf in 2009, he
suffered a mishap of epic proportions,
with the late November-early Decem-
ber reveal of marital infidelities.
Not only did he miss tournaments
due to a 45-day stay in a therapy clinic,
but the Tiger aura had been shattered.
Endorsements disappeared, as did
public adulation.
Woods battled back. He didn't win
again until 2012, but he did post
fourth-place finishes at the Masters in
2010 and 2011, and he reminded us of
why he obsesses golf fans – because
he's a fighter, an ultimate competitor
in the Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali
vein, who was not only physically bet-
ter than his foes, but mentally tougher.
He knew it, they knew it, and he
knew that they knew it. Woods simply
lives to win, to beat back the other
guys and to do it in as convincing fash-
ion as possible.
That's not about warm-and-fuzzy.
That's about true, once-in-a-lifetime
greatness. Rory McIlroy admitted early
in 2017 that he was annoyed at Phil
Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, who
were chatting and fist-bumping while
paired together (and playing great) at
the 2014 PGA Championship.
"This is a major championship,"
McIlroy thought at the time. "You're
trying to beat each other! This isn't the
Ryder Cup here."
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