Raise your hand if you know who won the Humana Challenge this past weekend. If your hand is up, you are a liar. Odds are, you’re probably scrambling to find out what the Humana Challenge is.
I’ll save you the trouble. It’s not a blood drive at a local elementary school. It’s a PGA Tour Tournament nobody cares about.
To avoid being that guy, the answer to the trivia question is Bill Haas. He edged out Charley Hoffman, Brendan Steele, Sung Joon Park, Steve Wheatcroft and Matt Kuchar by one stroke. Those could be made up golfers, and no one would know.
But this week, golf gets its Michael Jordan back.
Tiger Woods will be making his 2014-15 PGA Tour debut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Whether you love him, hate him or did love him and now hate him, he makes golf popular, which isn’t an easy task.
Woods has become a polarizing figure in American sports since the ole golf club-through-the-back-window-of-his-Escalade incident.
Last week, Woods lost a tooth — something so easy children do it daily — and it was worth national media coverage. LSU can’t get that kind of coverage unless a football player gets kicked off campus.
Everything this guy does is worthy of attention, and why not? He out played his dad, who was considered one of the best amateur golfers in the country at the time, at the age of 11 and won The Masters Tournament in his ninth month as a professional.
Since his sex scandal in 2009, Woods’ body has been as fragile as the Spongebob character who was born with paper skin and glass bones. Every morning, he breaks his legs, and every afternoon, he breaks his arms.
Woods withdrew from two tournaments last year, but now he’s back and should be close to full strength after resting for five months. He’s making his first appearance since missing the cut in the PGA Championship in August, and golf is already making its way back into the national spotlight.
Hell, Tiger’s presence on Tour got me to write this.
But knowing Woods’ recent injury history and the countless failed comeback attempts he’s made over the last year or so, how can I honestly tell you to believe in him this time?
It’s because Tiger is serious about getting back on the course to compete for the No. 1 world ranking.
This is the first time Woods has played in the Phoenix Open since 2001, when he won five tournaments, including the Masters. He probably won’t have that level of success this year, but at least he’s willing to play for it.
He’s not the same golfer many of you hate. He may not ever be the same golfer as in the past. But if Woods can get back to playing in 15 or more tournaments a year, golf will be making a comeback of its own.
Brian Pellerin is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.
Opinion: Tiger Woods marks return of golf as popular sport
By Brian Pellerin
January 27, 2015
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