When Tiger Woods hopped into a golf cart Friday at Riviera Country Club and was whisked off the course and up the big hill to the clubhouse for treatment of what he later said was the flu, it was a sudden and inglorious end to what began as a celebratory week.
Life happens – ask Jordan Spieth, whose own health issues apparently contributed to his being disqualified for signing incorrectly for a lower score on Friday – and it was another reminder of how precious the promise of Woods’ playing tournament golf again is.
It was easy to take Tiger for granted, despite the various injuries and ailments that interrupted his career from time to time. We’ve learned more about stress fractures, torn Achilles, microdiscectomies and fusion surgery than we probably cared to know, but it became part of the Tiger experience.
There was always something, but that was part of his incomparable story. Was Tiger a drama king sometimes? Maybe, but his story always has had more layers than others’.
Woods is 48 years old now, and his best days are behind him. He knows that. We all know that.
In terms of career highlights, he has more yesterdays than tomorrows, and it’s been that way for a while now. As different as Woods has been from everyone else, he’s no different when it comes to fighting Father Time.
The joy now is in having Woods back – flu symptoms aside – and the element of imagination he brings with him. He’s Disney in Sun Day Red.
The thought of Woods playing senior events? It seemed as likely as him wearing a yellow shirt on Sunday. Not anymore.
There are only so many moments left, and seeing him leave Riviera early was one more reminder that the clock is ticking.
Back when Woods was winning majors with regularity and rewriting most of the game’s important records, it was easy to think he might be gone from the game by now because he had done so much – climbed every mountain, so to speak.
The thought of Woods playing senior events? It seemed as likely as him wearing a yellow shirt on Sunday.
Not anymore.
Woods has said more than once that he looks forward to hopping into a cart and playing with his old buddies once he reaches AARP age.
At Riviera last week – 32 years after playing in his first PGA Tour event there – Woods was doing what he still loves to do. The work is harder now because of the surgeries, the fused body parts and the reality that while golf may be the game of a lifetime, it requires a grudging acceptance of time’s encroachment.
In his last nine official tour starts, Woods has played the weekend just four times because of withdrawals or missed cuts. It’s been like a motor that struggles to crank on a cold morning.
What hasn’t changed is the flicker of lightning Woods can still elicit. We can watch Spieth or Rickie Fowler or Justin Thomas and wonder whether this is the week when all the puzzle pieces find their proper spots.
With Woods, it feels bigger than that even if it’s clear his game has been diminished. He still can generate enough power, but his true magic on and around the greens isn’t what it was.
He is, however, still the most important player in the game and its true north in terms of moving the so-called needle with fans.
Tournament officials will privately acknowledge that three players make a difference with fans: Woods, Rory McIlroy and Spieth. Maybe Thomas, too.
Jon Rahm is a brilliant player who likely will wind up in the hall of fame, but he is more admired than beloved and his move to LIV Golf cemented that feeling.
Phil Mickelson used to move the needle, almost as much as Tiger, but now he’s been ostracized. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau – and Cam Smith to a lesser degree – are stars now playing in a different orbit, and it’s possible they never will be allowed to return to the PGA Tour.
Woods will have a say in that decision with his seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board, and he has a strong sense of loyalty and a long memory.
For all that he has accomplished in his playing career, Woods has grown into more than he was in his prime. Two decades ago, nothing was allowed to intrude on his golf.
Now, he’s part of the tour’s governance, he’s involved in the development of the TGL, his design business is thriving, he’s the proud father of two teenagers and he’s still stubborn enough to believe that he can win again.
Seeing Woods at Riviera last week, playing tournament golf again was encouraging. It ended on a flat note, but it was illness, not injury, that thwarted him.
If he believes, why shouldn’t the rest of us?
One of these days, the conversation will be only about what Tiger used to do, not what he might still do.
These are still precious days. They won’t last forever.
E-MAIL RON
Top: The trunk slams early on Woods' second round at Riviera.
Michael Owens, Getty Images