Waiting on the King to Return

      Golf, the ultimate mental game.  Someone once said that golf is 30% mental, 60% physical, and 10% luck.  Any golfer will tell you that the mental part plays a way bigger part than 30%.  Tiger Woods is the prime example of the great amount the mind plays in golf.  Woods is undoubtedly the greatest golfer of all-time.  He has made shots no other man could come close to duplicating.  He has destroyed his competitors for years and has been renowned as the best in the sport ever since eradicating the field at the Masters in 1997. 
      Things have been very different since Tiger's return to golf, following a brief hiatus after the well publicized sex-scandal that came about in November of 2009.  Tiger wasn't the same competitor last season.  For the first time in his career, he failed to win a single golf tournament and has since dropped to the number 3 ranked golfer in the world.  What happened to the future hall of famer?  Did his skill and determination simply vanish?  Not exactly.  Tiger had numerous stressors consuming him and the scrutiny of the public eye was upon him in a way he had never known.  These stressors were effecting his focus and he simply wasn't in the game mentally.  In a sport such as golf that demands high levels of mental strength, even the world's number one golfer couldn't offset the cognitive strain that was damaging his game.  The golf course was no escape and he couldn't hide from his impending divorce or the circus that had become his life.
      The 2011 golf season is just underway and Tiger Woods made his debut at the Farmers Insurance Open, played at a familiar venue, Torrey Pines.  If you look at the scorecard it didn't appear to be a successful weekend.  Tiger finished tied for 44th and 15 strokes behind the event's winner, Bubba Watson.  What wasn't shown on the scorecard was the massive gallery that stalked Woods on Sunday. Even when he is not in contention, Tiger is still the most important golfer on the course.  Fans want to see Tiger Woods and they want to see him succeed.  Another variable you can't measure from a scorecard is emotion and Tiger's emotion is back!  You can see the fuel beginning to burn in his eyes.  Something that was missing last year.  Slamming his clubs, cussing, yelling "TIGER!" is apart of his game.  A part that made him genuine.  Last week we saw some club slamming and a little yelling.  These are steps in the right direction.  Tiger is not back yet, he is the first to admit that, but he is rejuvenated and determined. With most of his troubles seemingly in his rear view mirror, winning is just around "Amen's Corner" for the greatest golfer to ever step up to a tee box.  In 2011 the "King of Golf" returns.