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Tiger Makes Like Jordan at Bay Hill

Mar 30, 2009, 4:30 PM UTC

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â†µWatching Tiger Woods’ miraculous win at Bay Hill yesterday, one that concluded with yet another long, triumphant putt on the 72nd hole, I couldn’t help but think of the heroics of another paradigm-shifting athlete that, like Tiger, came very early in a much ballyhooed comeback to the fray. â†µâ†µI’m referring to Michael Jordan, of course, and his return to the NBA in 1995 after his brief, ill-advised attempt to play pro baseball. Jordan famously announced his comeback to basketball with a two-word press release that read, “I’m back,” and yet many wondered how long it would take him to make it back to his old, devastating form, or if indeed he ever would be able to return to such heights again. â†µ

â†µâ†µAs with Tiger, the doubters were on Jordan early, and when he looked shaky in his first few games back in a Bulls’ uniform, the word circulated quickly that this was not the old M.J. His Airness had landed, or so went the conventional wisdom.â†µ

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â†µJordan, who may love a challenge more than any man who’s ever been born, chose the right forum to set us all straight on that score -- national television, Madison Square Garden, and the hottest rivalry in the league at the time, Bulls/Knicks, an ongoing thermonuclear sports war. â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s a vivid memory for me, that game. I watched it at a bar in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn with a roomful of rabid Knicks fans. Like all of them, I marveled at what I saw that afternoon, and as a rabid Knicks hater, I celebrated it as well, albeit quietly. â†µ

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â†µM.J.’s legendary “double nickel” at the Garden that day served notice to the league, and ended all the premature doubting once and for all. The King was back in the building, so dust off the throne and get the crown and scepter ready.â†µâ†µYou can make that ditto for Tiger’s “single nickel” yesterday. Matching the biggest Sunday rally of his career, Tiger stormed back from five strokes down to catch Sean O’Hair and then go one stroke better with a dramatic 15-footer for birdie on the 18th green to seal the victory. He earned his fifth blue blazer of his career, awarded of course by a man who knows a little something about drama on the golf course, Arnold Palmer.â†µ

â†µâ†µThere was rust on display in yesterday’s round from Tiger. Along with a few amazing putts, he hit some dreadful irons on the back nine. But in the end, he closed the show as only he can, and served notice to all who doubted him during his long, two-tournament losing streak since returning to the course from knee surgery that rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. In short, Tiger is back on the prowl. Long live the King.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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