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It's the official beginning of the post-Tiger Woods era

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Just watched HBO's terrific documentary on the Borg-McEnroe rivalry, which got me thinking, and that is always going to lead to some typing...

The program makes a searing point in the final chapter: After dueling so memorably, both Hall of Fame tennis players took breaks from the game at or near their presumed peak of their careers.

And neither won a major after turning 26.

Borg left the game at age 26 (with a younger McEnroe breathing down his neck) and that was it, except for a fizzled comeback 10 years later.

McEnroe took a leave of absence a few years later (with a slightly younger Ivan Lendl hammering at him), at a similar age, and never was the same.

And this leads us to Tiger Woods, his injuries, and his absence from the U.S. Open at Congressional this week--his first U.S. Open miss in 17 years.

Hmm. It takes a fateful combination of talent, focus and will to dominate the game, and I don't think Woods has it any more--the way Borg and McEnroe knew they didn't have it when they left tennis.

So I'm saying right here and now that this tournament is the official start of the post-Tiger Woods era.

Unofficially, this era probably ended a year or so ago, when we all started to realize that Woods was not going to roll out a major or two every year any more--his mind and body were not there.


But I think with his absence this week, this is the start of the point when Woods, via absence or mediocre play, just isn't the most important factor in any tournament, any more.

He's still Tiger. He could win here or there into his mid-40s. When he does win a major or some large tournamaent in the future, I'm sure people will scream that Tiger Is Back and rip into anyone who said the era is over.

But Tiger winning one tournament here or there will be like Stewart Cink winning a tournament here or there, or Bubba Watson. It won't be a sea-change. Just random golf.

Something wholly different than what we saw from the late-1990s to 2008, when the leg broke and then his life fell apart.

Woods is no longer the best player, he's not the most exciting player, he's not the most dangerous player and he's not the shaper of the era any more.

He's just another good player, going downhill, the way Ernie Els has been, the way Phil Mickelson has been for the last year, the way Arnold Palmer was after turning 35...

Golfers, of course, have much longer primes than tennis players. Much, much, much longer. Ten to 15 years longer.

And Woods' absence is related to prolonged leg and knee injuries--not about mental burn out.

But I think it's becoming clearer and clearer that Woods' epic career wipeout--which began with his Thanksgiving 2009 episode and resulted in scandal--is some sort of linksland parallel to the Borg & McEnroe fadeouts.

For the various reasons, Woods hasn't won a major since the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 (which will make him winless in the last 12 majors, his longest major drought) or any tournament at all since late-2009.

This drought has basically taken him from the usual late-prime of a great golfer's career (Woods was 33 on Thanksgiving 2009) into the beginning of his non-prime (after turning 35).

He has had personal issues, injury issues, swing issues, sponsorship issues and very possibly other issues.

He's watched a fleet of younger golfers rise up and challenge for major championships and he's seen his long death grip on the No. 1 ranking evolve into his current No. 15 placement.

And this isn't his era any more. It's not quite anybody's era, yet, though I would imagine that Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler and a few others have their sights set on making it their own.

Golf misses Woods being there in every major, either winning or coming close.

The sports world misses the drama he used to provide.  But it misses the drama Jack Nicklaus provided, too, and Muhammad Ali and Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, too.

There are times for great individual athletes to be great. And then there's the afterwards, which is where we are now with Tiger Woods.

The post It's the official beginning of the post-Tiger Woods era appeared first on Talking Points.


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