I'm not going to apologize to anyone for wishing Tiger Woods was playing in the British Open this week and every other major until he turns 50.
Another major without Tiger just doesn't feel right. With 14 major titles in just a little over 10 years, Tiger was really on a roll and was poised to break Jack Nicklaus' record by the time he was 40. Things have slowed down a bit for Tiger and now his pursuit of Jack has come to a halt.
It's been over three years now since his last major win at the 2008 U.S. Open, but it seems like an eternity to golf fans who feel something is missing.
After all the mistakes Tiger has made, why do we miss him so much?
On the course
Say what you want to about Tiger, but golf is about what happens on the course and not off. On the course, Tiger was exciting. He turned average sports fans into golf fans when he was playing and each major that he was contending in was an event you couldn't miss.
I find it exciting when a player dominates an individual sport like golf. When Tiger was dominating, the bets in Las Vegas were either take Tiger or take the field. This made for great sports conversations as the best play was actually Tiger. Tiger knew he was the best and he was willing to take on all comers.
Phil misses Tiger
He won't actually come out and say it, but Phil appears to miss the old Tiger. Rigamortis has set in to Mickelson's game since Tiger has taken a break. Phil needs motivation -- and Tiger always has motivated him.
Ratings
If you watch the television coverage this week of the British Open you will notice something is missing. The talk about Tiger will be almost nonexistent. That means the ESPN ratings will be down and that is bad for golf and sports.
The fist pump
Tiger brought the "fist pump" to professional golf and when you see Tiger pumping the fist, you know he brought his A-game and something amazing was happening.
People may not admit it, but for those that watch and follow golf on a regular basis, something is missing -- and that would be Tiger.
Rick Limpert covers sports, technology and events in and around Atlanta. He'll be watching to see if Tiger plays in the PGA Championship later this summer.



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