Dramatics Déjà Vu or Simply Serendipity

The great Jack Nicklaus himself conceded that it was one of the greatest golf shots he had witnessed.  I refer to Tiger’s hole out chip off the greenside rough in the 16th hole of the Memorial Tournament which marked his taking the lead away from Rori Sabatini and eventually hoisting the championship trophy.

Without rehashing the serendipitous historical significance of this victory, (e.g., seventy-third to tie Jack’s record at Jack’s tournament) which has been amply commentated upon by both broadcast and print media, let me hasten to hope that it would trigger the beginning of a resurgence in Tiger’s winning ways.  Not that I harbor nostalgia for a dominant player in American golf.  Rather, a sterling season by an accomplished performer would provide an appropriate challenge for the young guns of American golf to aspire to surpass, effectively instigating a constructive rivalry in the process.

Editorializing on the Escalade Affair which marked the inception of the hiatus in Tiger’s trophy production, chapter 27~~Dearth of Accountability—Tangling with a Tale of the Tiger~~p.299 ff, of my book, Flirting with Misadventures, concluded thus,

“. . . I appeal to Elin Nordegren Woods’ infinite goodness to give the transgressor a second chance.  I am as certain as that the sun shines in the East come morning, that a rehabilitated (and forgiven) Tiger Woods is infinitely a more valuable asset to humanity than a fallen, disgraced, and damaged colossus of much more than just golf.”

This is only the copyrighted version of my bona fides as an unapologetic, albeit not unconditional, enthusiastic Tiger well-wisher.

On page 300 of the book http://www.flirtingwithmisadventures.com/aboutthebook.htm, I noted with unmistakable emphasis:

To Tiger’s laudable credit, he elected to own up to the shenanigans and vowed to make amends when he announced his decision to take “an indefinite break” [from golf] to repair his marriage.  We can only wish him well.  It is indeed heartening that he seems to have the support and encouragement of his fellow professional golfers.

It would indeed be most delightful if a resurgent Tiger can seal the deal of his comeback by hoisting the trophy come this Fathers’ Day.  Then the tour and the rest of the world are put on notice that the quest to surpass the majors trophy tally of Jack Nicklaus shall have been fully re-engaged.

A Hint of an American Resurgence

After losing the Solheim Cup in Ireland last summer in the wake of the 2010 loss of the Ryder Cup in South Wales, it was difficult to avoid the eerie feeling that golf in America was in a decline trajectory relative to the rest of the world.  Eerie because it seemed to be consistent with the decline of everything else that was American, since the Obama regime embarked on “apologizing for America” as the hallmark of its governance.

Against this backdrop, capturing the World Cup of Golf title in China last week following a successful defense of the Presidents’ Cup in Australia the previous week lent a hint of a triumphal resurgence in American golf.  With the vile defeatist pessimism spewing out of the White House itself respecting the state of the national psyche, every bit of good news goes a long way to prop up the nation’s morale.  Being myself an eternal optimist to a fault, I cannot help but hope that this is just the beginning of a winning trend that should culminate through the national elections next year.  We definitely can use every bit of good news.

Kudos to captain Fred Couples for pre-empting the talking heads of punditland and naming Tiger to the Presidents Cup team long before he had to.  His message to the world was that golf needs Tiger and Tiger needs golf.  Further that given the chance and some moral support, Tiger belongs to a winning team.  Tiger promptly returned the favor by placing third in the Australian Open, capturing the winning point in the Presidents’ Cup, and bagging the trophy in his own Chevron invitational tournament.  If it ushers in the resurgence of Tiger’s winning ways, it certainly would not be asking too much to expect it to infect the overall pulse of American Exceptionalism.

With all the miasma of class warfare emanating out of the Oval Office, the entire country can use a breathe of some air of the fresher kind.