If the Woods era is indeed ending,
the new one looks pretty good
Golf is going to be just fine when we enter the post-Tiger Woods period, whenever that might be. In many ways the last two years, as Woods has struggled, have been a rehearsal for that
transition. He hasn’t been a dominant player—just one
victory in his last 28 PGA Tour starts and no majors since
the 2008 U.S. Open—and what we have learned is that,
although another Woods is not yet on the horizon, the sun
still shines on the game, sometimes with radiant intensity,
as it did Sunday at the Masters when we were reminded
that golf is bigger than any one person.
After Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters, his last of
18 major titles at age 46, many said the game would never
again see a player that dominant because there was simply
too much talent. Ten years later, along came Woods. The
lesson is that there is always someone out there—at least
there always has been—from Bobby Jones to Ben Hogan
followed by Nicklaus and Woods. The corollary to that
lesson is that the wait for the next
transcendent player doesn’t have to
be Godot-like. What’s happening right
now is good enough.
The acts that have trudged across
the stage during Tiger’s down period
have proven to be compelling. We got
another top-notch performance Sunday at Augusta National when Bubba
Watson won the Masters in a two-hole
playoff over Louis Oosthuizen. All
you had to do was soak in the chants
of “Bubba, Bubba” to realize he’s an
extremely popular champion. And all
you had to do was watch his booming drives or the 40-
yard hook he hit out of the trees and onto the green at the
second playoff hole to win the green jacket to know why.
Bubba is wired to hit big curves, and that makes for great
entertainment.
Because Tiger was so good, we defined the game almost
entirely in terms of him. Even now, the temptation to
follow the slightest sign of success with a chorus of “He’s
back” is too great for many to avoid. What we haven’t done
is define what we mean when we say, “He’s back.” Will we
ever again see the 2000 version of Tiger, with nine wins
and three majors? That prospect grows more unlikely
every day. But could we see a type of Tiger Light—three
wins and a major in a season, for example? That’s much
more likely, and it would still be more wins than any other
PGA Tour player managed last season.
There is always someone out there—at least
there always has been—from Bobby Jones to
Ben Hogan followed by Nicklaus and Woods.
The corollary to that lesson is that the wait for
the next transcendent player doesn’t have to
be Godot-like. What’s happening right
now is good enough.
Bubba, 33, to a recent group of talented, young, multina-
tional major winners that includes McIlroy ( 22), Keegan
Bradley ( 25), Charl Schwartzel ( 27), Martin Kaymer ( 27)
and Oosthuizen ( 29) and there is great reason for optimism.
“This is nice, I look like you now,” Watson said after
Schwartzel slipped the green jacket on him in Butler
Cabin. Well, sort of. Bubba will never really look like anyone but himself. And that’s good for the game. The majors
are no longer a question of “Can anyone beat Tiger this
week?” They are a question of “Who among many will be
on their game this week?” Although it might be premature to say we are seeing the end of an era, it would not
be wrong to acknowledge a glimpse of a new one—and it
looks pretty good. N
