He Said That? 4/9/15

From Jimmy Walker, who was in Tiger Woods’ threesome today in the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia:

I’m glad he’s back. He played OK. He had a couple wild shots. We all did today. So there was nothing big.

He had some good pars where he got up and down. It was good to see him playing good. It’s probably not what he wanted. It’s not what I wanted.

http://espn.go.com/golf/masters15/story/_/id/12657671/tiger-woods-discusses-1-first-round-masters

Woods shot a one over par 73 today, not great by his standards, but better than he has been playing. He won’t win the Masters, and he might not make the cut. However, it would be great if he played all four days and made a reasonable showing for himself, and if that, in turn, served as a springboard for further improvement such that one day he won another major. Tiger Woods has never had a people pleasing personality, hiding, not always successfully, a steely arrogance behind a generally bland and correct demeanor. There is no gainsaying that he behaved abominably towards his ex-wife, the mother of his children, and towards the children. However, he is a golfer of unique talent and dedication. During his run of excellence, he reached a level of play that has only been attained by one or two other golfers. A major with Tiger in the hunt on the last round always garnered the highest ratings. He greatly increased public awareness of golf, was an inspiration to countless kids, and made the PGA tour and all of its golfers immeasurably richer. It’s time for those who have not already done so to let him out of Purgatory. Here’s to hoping that his tally of major tournament titles doesn’t stop at 14.