Wecome back, Kotter.. The Tiger Version
Written on December 3, 2014Just like Mr. Kotter from the 70’s sitcom, Tiger woods has returned to his roots to find himself. It seems the older more mature version of the original swing that spawn the second greatest run in golf history has come full circle. Looking Refreshed!… not long in the tooth with all the injuries and poor mechanics from the past years, Tiger has returned to a familiar swing and surroundings at Isleworth CC in an attempt to regain his domain on the PGA Tour this week… Hooray!!! With new swing coach Chris Como and a fresh perspective of who he really wants to be, “Mr. Kotter”, is looking a lot like he did at 30. Woods has begun the 4th comeback of his illustrious career by going full circle with his golf swing and his approach to the playing the game. “Duh!” I guess some people must learn things the hard way or they are just ego stupid. Guilty of both I am! Now that he is 39 and handicapped with numerous physical limitations we shouldn’t think he will return to the dominance of his late twenties, but as we know in today’s world of fitness and better living habits, 40 is the new 30. And remember what Jack did in his 30’s…
Being born in 1940 the decade of the 70’s Jack Nicklaus was in his 30 something prime. Over this 10 years span of 40 majors he played Jack won 8 times, finished 2nd in 8 others, 11 more top 5’s and 7 more top 10’s.. that’s 35 of 40 majors in the top 10… Untouchable! For some reason we fail to mention this when we talk about the most dominate runs in the history of golf. Also Jack never tried to re-invent himself. All he did was try and perfect the player he was born to be.
With Tiger returning to the familiar more natural flow in his new / old swing, he is allowing the inner creative genius to operate at full capacity. I expect that wondrous short game magic to return and Tiger to be evenmore crafty than he has ever been on and around the greens. As we know, his mental capacity is unrivaled when focusing on playing the game through the eyes of an artist and not a machine. Now that Tiger has recognized his many flaws and returned a more humble, open minded version of his old self, he has a better than average chance of breaking Jack’s total of 18 wins. Just like Jack and Mr. Kotter, Tiger has realized the secret to any success is to be the natural evolving version of who you were born to be. Through this epiphany he has finally put himself in position to WIN another Major or five!
I can’t wait to finally watch true rivalries develop for him with the new stars and see how good Tiger can be in his later years. Jack was amazing and I expect the same from Mr. Woods… Welcome Back!