Anticipation is building, flowers bursting into bloom and another Masters Tournament is around the corner. For many it is the time when the golf season officially starts.
Many of us were hoping for a Masters and a golf season with Tiger Woods.
Now it has become very clear that so won't be the case, and blatantly obvious the time has come to turn the page.
In recent days Nick Faldo was interviewed by The Telegraph and didn't hold back.
“Our sport is based on discipline. You rule yourself, you police yourself. I would have thought the PGA Tour – behind closed doors – must be very disappointed that they pay Tiger tens of millions to be on the course and off the course with this business role he has got [as chairman of the player-driven Future Competitions Committee]. “He has only finished nine tournaments in the last five years, yet they feel he is the future on the golf course and the future in the decision-making and they must say… ‘oh boy, what do we get out of that?’ In the normal walk of life, there would be some accountability."
Tiger Woods is rare in the case that his brand in many ways have been stronger than golf itself. He alone opened up the game to people that would never dream of setting foot on a golf course, and for this we should forever be grateful. Still one has to wonder, should golf as a whole, given what has transpired over the last decades, still beg on it's bare knees for Woods to be the face of the game.
In my opinion this should no longer be the case. Cheating and breaking rules couldn't be further from aligning with the values of gollf.
Of course he is still a fascinating figure. The other week Tiger Woods made his return to TGL. And just like over the past ten years on The PGA Tour, TV ratings went through the roof due to his comeback. Viewership means sponsorship, and sponsorship means money. So yes, professional golf is still very much dependent on Tiger Woods.
But this dependency has developed into vulnerability, and with another Masters just days away it more than ever feels like professional golf is stuck in reverse.
Both The PGA Tour and Augusta National has publicly stated that they support Tiger Woods on his road to recovery. At the same time as I don't think they should ever turn the back on one of golf's greatest, there has to be accountability and repercussions, also for him – just like for the rest of us. This are the values our entire game is built on.