Tiger Woods is already a legend in the sport of golf — perhaps the greatest golfing success story of this generation. Tiger Woods could easily retire now and enjoy a magnificent legacy. And yes, that is precisely what some people think he should do!

Forget the fact that Tiger Woods’ name has been driven through the mud over personal issues. (After all, he is the very first famous athlete to ever cheat on his wife, right? Umm…sure) He has also lost endorsements and many of his ardent fans and been demonized by the press.

The question is, can he still play? Many in the industry are quick to say no! After all, he lost his #1 ranking nearly two years ago, and was ranked below the top 50 by the end of last year. He also managed to rake up a career long loss streak of 107 weeks.

Why just consider the dirt coming from Hank Haney, Woods’ former coach. In his new book The Big Miss he states bluntly that he doubts Tiger will ever recover from his career slump. He says that the scandal specifically affected the player’s game, going from “potentially irreparable.” Haney also said that Tiger, no longer a young man at 36 years of age, has learned that “realization creates doubt and in competitive golf doubt is a killer.”

Of course, it’s hard to deny that Haney has a personal issue against Tiger, not only because of money, but also because Haney (admittedly) didn’t like the way Woods always attributed problems to his coaching style.

Nevertheless, not everyone is giving up on Tiger Woods. Jeneé Osterheldt of the Kansas City star remains one of Tiger’s biggest fans and stated that “Tiger Woods is genuinely smiling. And people are smiling along with him.”

Why so? Could it be because Tiger is finally swinging success? As of March 2012, he won a 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, and this is his first win on the PGA Tour in over two years. He is now ranked #6 in the golfing world.

What do you think, sports fans? Does Tiger have another championship left or has he peaked before his time?

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Golf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.