I am a rather big sports fan and one of my favorite sports is golf. I've played golf for about 12 years now and absolutely love the game, not just playing but also watching. Growing up in the early 2000s, every young golfer's idol was Tiger Woods, so, of course, I was a big fan of him. Seeing him dominate the game for just over a decade was pretty incredible.
In recent years though, his game has fallen through the cracks due to a number of injuries including his knees and his back. His withdrawal from last week's Dubai Desert Classic has led to a large number of people and critics questioning his retirement from the game. I, too, am becoming one of those people.
1. Injuries
Possibly the overwhelming reason he will eventually retire from the game is the injuries and surgeries he has sustained and undergone in his career. In total, he has had 4 surgeries (all of which have come in the last 10 years) and 11 notable injuries (ranging from minor back spasms to torn ligaments). In any other sport, 4 surgeries alone would be probable cause for retirement, but golf is different as, for the most part, it is not as strenuous on your body as hockey or football, for example.
Regardless of how tough golf is on your body, 4 surgeries will catch up to you at some point and it appears that this might be happening to Tiger. 2 of the 4 surgeries have been back-related and both back surgeries have happened within the last 2 and a half years. His recent withdrawal from a European Tour event was because of back spasms. He claims that these issues come and go but as he gets older, I'm assuming they're going to become more frequent which makes me question if he will ever be able to fully compete in the near future.
Now, don't get me wrong, Tiger has seemed invincible in the past. After all, he did win the US Open on a broken leg in 2008; but that was 9 years and 3 surgeries ago. Plus, the back is a more fragile body part than the leg making it seem like the invincible Tiger of old might be a thing of the past.
2. Popularity of Tiger
One of the driving points of his possible retirement is his recent decline in popularity. After the sex scandal became publicly announced near the end of 2009, his popularity has continued to go down. His popularity, surprisingly, was not too damaged from the scandal but there was a definite decrease in his likeness among fans.
The main decrease in his popularity stemmed from the successes of young players around the time of his scandal. Young stars such as Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, and Jason Day were all becoming very popular for their personalities on and off the golf course and their abilities to win on a regular basis.
As a result of the scandal and young stars, Tiger has lost some fans and his popularity is much lower than it was 10 years ago. Despite that, he still continues to draw many fans to tournaments he plays in, but this is, in large part, because he doesn't play that often anymore.
3. Decline of His Game
The last factor in Tiger's possible retirement is that he simply can't compete with the young guys anymore. When Tiger first joined the PGA Tour in 1996, he finished second on the Tour in Driving Distance (surpassed only by the big man, John Daly), but was 8 yards ahead of third place (a rather large amount). Currently, he would sit at 50th on the PGA Tour, a whopping 20 yards behind distance leader, Dustin Johnson.
Also, out of the last 7+ seasons, Tiger has been irrelevant in all but one of those seasons. The lone exception is the 2013 season where he won 5 times and everyone thought he had made a complete comeback. This comeback was ultimately for nothing and over the next 2 seasons he struggled greatly through back injuries and failed to record any wins. To cap it all off, he failed to play a single hole of competitive golf in 2016 due to back surgeries, the first time in his career he did not play a single tournament in a calendar year.
4. Possible Resurgence?
As for a possible return to golf, Woods states that he needs time for everything to start clicking again. I know many people would love to see him compete again (myself included) but I just don't see it happening. Not many players have a resurgence in their career after they turn 40 and I don't see this happening with Tiger either (who is now 41 years old). Its nice to see him in tournaments but not with the way he has been playing. All I can say is, Tiger, I think its time to call it quits.
