Monday, April 05, 2010

It's Time To Move On To Golf Now

There will never be official closure to the Tiger Woods' mess but Monday at the Masters came close to it.

Woods used his charm in his morning practice round and during his 35-minute question-and-answer session with the media to defuse much of the expected tension surrounding his return to professional golf.

Facing a significant challenge, Woods delivered.

He seemed relaxed on the golf course and comfortable in the media room. He didn't answer every question or provide all the details some want but it was a success on every front for Woods. It won't change the way some people think of Woods -- the impact of his actions was enormous -- but it started winning people back.

He'll still hear some comments from the gallery, though probably very few here at the Masters. But, as he often does, Geoff Ogilvy got it right when he said it seemed the fans were excited just to see Tiger playing golf again.

We all have a good idea of what happened in his life and the story has grown tiresome. Until he had a day like Monday, though, it was difficult to move forward.

Now Tiger can move forward and so can the rest of us. It doesn't mean the mess is forgotten but it can go back to being about golf for Tiger now.

Golf, Tiger said Monday, feels fun again.

Monday had something to do with that.