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It has been …

weeks
months
years

… since Tiger Woods last won a major. Already the whispers have started:

“Has he clinched his crown as the greatest golfer ever?”
“Is he in a slump?”
“Has the sport passed him by for good?”

Yet as …

good
bad

… as he has been, you can’t discount the presence of …

Phil Mickelson.
golf’s young guns.
doubts about his character.

Gone are the days when …

Tiger intimidated the competition.
Tiger was tinkering with his swing.
Tiger’s personal reputation was unsullied.

But one fact remains:

golf needs a dominant Tiger Woods.
golf needs someone to challenge Tiger Woods.
Tiger is still not the man we hoped he was and the man we still want him to become.

In press conferences he is…

more open and revealing than before.
still very guarded and almost condescending.
not willing to talk about his personal life.

And it is still very obvious that he needs to work on his …

putting.
accuracy with the driver.
foul language on the course.

But make no mistake, we are seeing very real signs of a …

resurgence.
a once dominant athlete fading into the pack.
herpes sore.

And for one, I couldn’t be more …

happy.
hopeful.
disgusted.