It's Time

It's time to wake up, time to really start the golf season. Oh sure, there have been a few tournaments and Tiger Woods has even done one of his now long patented make a birdie on 18 to win Arnie's tournament at Bay Hill. The LPGA even has their first major under the belt, you know, the one that so and so just won.

So and so? Of course I know that the Dinah (sorry, The Kraft Nabisco) was won by Brittany Lincicome. She's one of my favorite players on the LPGA Tour. Lincicome's major win is just the latest example to the oh so well funded Camp Wie of just how far she has been left behind. Still, as important as the win is for Lincicome it didn't quite kick-start the season for me, but this weekend will.

For my money, the only real majors are the US and British Opens. The PGA, with its warm and fuzzy inclusion of the club pros and the sometimes comedic choice of venue (can you say, Valhalla?), isn't even on par with a WGC event. The Masters lives on the laurels of Spring, marvelous TV coverage and legend. Still, I find the Masters to be at something of a crossroads.

Why? Simply put, the 2009 Masters will be the place where Tiger Woods either plants his flag of dominance yet again, crushing the hopes and dreams of the rank and file tour players (defending champion Trevor Immelman, included), or he swings open the door to those very same players.

That open door would well suit this economic era. Your 401K is probably worth about 30% of what it used to be worth and your interest in professional golf will be missing about 70% of its vigor, too. Tiger has insulated us and the tour from reality for so long, but I'm just not sure that even he can keep it up. Time may have finally caught up with him in the very same way that it caught up with the economy.

Is this a stretch? Maybe. But, consider how a non-Tiger dominated season would affect the interest of tour sponsors, especially during this economy. The term is malaise, and golf is slow enough as it is. This Masters season reminds me of just how much we have come to rely on Tiger Woods to keep the men's game vital. As I have said again and again, in his 12 years on tour there's been no other player to arrive on tour to generate the kind of appeal that he does. There is no Tom Watson to this Jack Nicklaus, not even a Johnny Miller.

Me? I'm looking for Tiger to replant his flag, but am afraid that he may just leave the door open just wide enough that an interloper may start the season off with a yawn.