First of all, I am not. I think he is the story every week in a sport that needs a dominate story to be relevant beyond hard core golfers and old people. Well this week Tiger did not make the cut in a major for only the second time in his career and that was okay because The Open had Tom Watson. The 59 year old golfer had the Claret Jug snatched from his grasp at the last moment by Stewart Cink in a four hole playoff. Cink seemed to have mixed emotions about winning his first major at the cost of Watson losing a tournament that he was in contention for from day one. After it was decided and the trophy presentation was readying columnist Rick Reilly gave a video retrospect of the four day event. In which he stated that Tom Watson plays the game the way it should be played, like a gentleman, then cutting to a shot of Tiger slamming a club into his bag he references how we may have forgotten that golf is a gentleman's game. This seemed like a dig on the temperamental face of the sport. I thought to myself how impressive it is that Tiger has been golf's greatest ambassador without backlash for over a decade now. Lots of people respected but hated Joe Montana and Michael Jordan, Tom Brady is in now in that boat of champions, but Tiger has remained dominate and unconditionally loved from moment one. That is until he missed a cut at a major championship. The main story this weekend over at Yahoo Sports was how relieved one writer was that if Tiger wasn't in contention that it was better that he miss the cut. This sentiment seems to acknowledge that Tiger is the main story whether he is winning or losing, and that the only time he is not the main attraction seems to be when he is not there. I find it interesting that there seemed to be a sigh of relief that Tiger was not there on Sunday. We are accustomed to his constant presence that people seemed to be welcoming the opportunity for it not to inevitable. Something that seemed impossible even one year ago. Tom Watson was the story this week and Tiger seemed to be getting out of the way. Sharing the spotlight has not been something he has done much of in his professional life.
