Sports Betting Blog

A few months ago, while playing at Augusta National, Tiger Woods hit an awkward shot along the 17^th Fairway. It was the last time he played this season. Little after the incident there was a report in his website stating the Woods had suffered a minor injury and had irritated his left knee and his left Achilles tendon. It didn’t seem like that much of a deal at that point, but sure enough, it was just the kind of news that some fans were waiting for. This injury was some sort of omen. Since the incident with the driving his SUV into a tree back in 2009, Tiger Woods hasn’t been the player, the star, that many of us fall for.

We knew his personal life was a mess once and the guy who apparently had it all and always kept his cool no matter the circumstances was falling apart. In a matter of months he was facing a multimillion dollar divorce, losing the custody of his children, losing millions in advertisements and endorsements, losing the top spot in the PGA Tour and quite frankly, for a moment there it seemed as if he was losing his game as well.

Woods announced Tuesday he will skip this month’s British Open. To be quite honest here, this decision is of little surprise to anyone in golf. He hasn’t played since he withdrew during the first round of the Players Championship in early May. What is hard to believe is that for the first time in a while he is sitting out two major championships. The thing here is that he always used to define his year and his career based on his performance on these tournaments. And if we look at it from a straightforward point of view, he might as well just give up coming back this year.

On his website, Tiger Woods gave out the following statement: “I do not want to risk further injury. That’s different for me, but I’m being smarter this time. I’m very disappointed and want to express my regrets to the British Open fans.” It seems that it is time to give up on certain things, certain goals. For instance, there is the chase to break Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major championships. It just goes without saying that its further and further away. Woods is stuck on 14, with three lengthy stretches away from the game (one personal, two injuries).

Tiger Woods is going to be 36 in December and the clock is ticking on the likelihood he can regain the momentum to win five more majors and accomplish what once seemed inevitable. Woods has won 71 official PGA Tour events including 14 majors. He is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. He has been heralded as “the greatest closer in history” by multiple golf experts. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.

He has spent the most consecutive and cumulative weeks atop the world rankings. He is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so.

Many of Tiger Woods fans where already suspecting it, but the legendary Tiger Woods is going to miss his first US Open since, well, since 1994, when he was a Senior in High School. This is the only tournament that Tiger Woods hadn’t miss since he became a professional. We could venture and say that this tournament holds a special place in his heart. He has been very successful in the US Open. Tiger Wood has won the US Open in 2000, 2002 and 2008, as part of his impressive 14 Mayor Championships.

Tiger Woods said he was hoping to fully recover for the AT&T National, which starts June 30 at Aronomink, and the next two majors. And yet we can’t help but to have our doubts. We must not forget that this is pretty much what he said two weeks ago when he said he will do all he could to be in shape and ready for the U.S. Open. And let’s face it, it’s quite evident that the US Open is quite more significant than the AT&T National.

Despite the many injuries he has suffered throughout his career, the Masters is now the only major Woods has played every year since turning pro. He was recovering from knee surgery in 2008 and did not play in the British Open and PGA Championship. But after the obligatory break and once he had recovered he came back with a vengeance. The most recent of four surgeries on Woods’ left knee came a week after the 2008 U.S. Open, which Woods won in a playoff for his 14th major.

Tiger underwent reconstructive surgery and was out for eight months. And then came what we previously called the vengance. He returned and won seven times the following year, and things were looking brilliantly optimistic in 2009. Many of the reporters and commentators who follow the sport closely were not wondering whether he will catch up with Phil Mickelson but when. We had no doubt that he would become the greatest player in golf’s long history. Little did we know that just as his professional life was reaching new heights, his personal life was about to hit rock bottom. On Thanksgiving night in 2009, Tiger Wood’s personal life imploded and soon after, his game was following that same decline.

The U.S. Open will be the 12th straight major without Woods winning, the longest drought of his career. He remains four majors short of the 18 professional majors that Nicklaus won, the ultimate benchmark in golf. Now it’s not going to get any prettier for Tiger. It really seems that its all uphill from now on. It’s not as if Tiger is not going to win another tournament, its just that he is probably not going to be the dominant force we once knew.

Woods hasn’t won since the 2009 Australian Masters. That’s a stretch of 22 tournaments, the longest he has ever gone without a title. He not only lost his No. 1 ranking late last year. Let’s not forget he had dominated the PGA tour for almost a decade before he plunged to No. 15 in the world, his lowest spot in the ranking since the spring of 1997. It might be the end of an era. Or perhaps its just the right preamble for one of the greatest comebacks in this sport. We’ll be kind enough to give Tiger the benefit of the doubt.