It is Time for Tiger Woods to Retire

Author: Richard Pyle
Editor: Nicholas Petersen



It’s Time for Tiger Woods to Retire If you’re a fan of golf and the PGA, you can’t help but hope that Tiger Woods will make one last run at The Golden Bear’s 18 majors - he trails Nicklaus by only four. His biggest obstacle? Three back surgeries in two years. 

When Woods first announced a back surgery in 2014, people assumed that he’d take the rest of the season off and return in 2015. That wasn’t the case. Five months later he entered the Bridgestone Invitational and had to withdraw due to spasms stemming from the procedure. That was the start of a pattern for Tiger, as he has tried several times to come back far earlier than was wise. His most recent attempt was in the fall of 2015, following his third surgery. And when he decided to try to compete again this past summer, we were reminded - on multiple occasions - of his previous withdrawals. Tiger’s surgeries are impossible to overlook, and he must know that on some level. 

That’s why it’s so baffling that someone with such an illustrious career would continue to put himself in situations where he could further damage his health. Perhaps it’s because he is afraid of hurting his “image.” Perhaps he’s afraid that he can’t retire because of his fan following. I say that golf is all that he knows, all that he loves, and he believes that maybe there’s some hope that he can continue to play on a competitive level. His health won’t let him, and he’s kidding himself if believes that he’s the same player everyone feared in the past. 

Tiger Woods doesn’t owe the world of golf a damn thing. He’s been the face of the PGA for nearly two decades and in some ways he still is. The ratings are lower when he’s not on television. Why? Because everyone wants to see the “what happens next” scenario, to see if he does have one more run in him, or to relive the glory of days gone by. And that’s his problem - if he’s the face of the PGA, he’s the face of its past. The face of today is young Jordan Spieth. Speith has taken the golf world by storm, having nearly completed the coveted Grand Slam only to lose the Open Championship by a few strokes and the PGA Championship to a red hot Jason Day. If Tiger’s being honest with himself, he knows that the torch was passed to Speith several years ago. 

Look, don’t get me wrong - he’s one of the greatest to ever play this game and I’m not diminishing what he’s done over the course of his remarkable career. He had one of the greatest runs in the history of the game. It’s just that this problem - while deeply unfortunate - shouldn’t surprise anyone. 

Tiger, it’s time to retire. I understand if you don’t want to do it and I don’t blame you for holding on. But if you do decide that it is time to call it a career, let me be the first from our team to say “thank you.”