David Claybourn: Sports Views: Tiger Woods faces his biggest setback

Mar. 2—When he was healthy Tiger Woods was probably the greatest golfer of all time.

He's tied with Sam Snead for the most victories on the PGA tour with 82 wins and is second to Jack Nicklaus on the majors list with 15. Nicklaus, the Golden Bear, won 18 majors.

At one time I expected Woods to pass Nicklaus on the majors list until he suffered some personal setbacks and went through five back surgeries and a couple of knee surgeries.

After his recent car accident I'm wondering if Woods will ever play competitive golf again.

The 45-year-old is recovering in a Los Angeles medical center after suffering multiple open fractures in his lower right leg. Surgeons placed a rod in his tibia and screws and pins in his foot and ankle.

Woods is lucky to be alive after the SUV he was driving rolled over numerous times and went down an embankment. The front end of that SUV was crushed by the impact. It'll be a long time before he'll be back walking without a cane or some type of support.

I'm hoping for his sake he'll one day play golf for fun, never mind in competition.

But if he returns to play competitive golf it'll be the greatest comeback in golf since Ben Hogan's remarkable comeback from a car accident in 1949.

The thing about the PGA tour is that the players have to walk the course, though a caddy carries their clubs. Just walking 18 holes would be a challenge and then there's the effect on his million-dollar swing. Woods, when he was healthy, could outdrive most of the pros and made some remarkable shots.

He was also great with a putter. I read that he wouldn't end most practice sessions until he made 20 straight 10-foot putts.

I'm rooting for Tiger. — I have a couple of pet peeves about sports, watching the game as a journalist and fan.

It really gets me when a basketball defender fouls a shooter in the act of a 3-point shot. Even the best of 3-point shooters miss them 60% or more of the time. So why foul the shooter? They'll usually have much more success in hitting free throws. And yet I see 3-point fouls in the NBA, college and high school games.

Another pet peeve is when a wide receiver runs a 6-yard pattern on a third-and-eight play in football. The idea is to pick up the first down, not stop short of the first-down marker when your team needs to keep the chains moving. And yet, I see those receivers catch those passes in the NFL, college and high school games and don't pick up the first down.

Former Greenville Lion wide receiver Troy Gotcher, who went past 1,000 yards receiving one season for the Lions and also played at Baylor, said he always made sure to run his route where he could pick up a first down on a catch. — The Celeste Blue Devils faced two players from Linden-Kildare on Wednesday night in the Class 2A area playoffs with unusual names. Puff Peters was a post-forward for the Tigers and Critter Palmer was a forward. I assume that Puff and Critter are nicknames but you never know these days.

Critter was an old-school free throw shooter, shooting it underhanded as he made four of six attempts.

I'll be sure to consider Puff and Critter for my next all-name team.

David Claybourn is sports editor of the Herald-Banner.