In a blog about the poem by a bloke named "Suresh," he writes, "As it is, I also happen to admire Tigers a lot. Beastly creature. Majestic. They have the perfect blend of flair, elegance, mystery, authority and… Terror!"

If that sounds like another Tiger we have all come to either love or hate (no middle ground with this one, it seems), it should not surprise either faction.

With great interest, we have watched and listened to the variety of comments, praises and curses aimed at Tiger Woods since the first day of this year's US Open. From Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio, Johnny Miller on the network, Brandel Chamblee and the ladies and gentlemen that grace the Golf Channel, to a dozen or so forums we visit regurlarly. We cannot recall many circumstances, events or people that have generated more feverish press, (outside of politics), than Tiger's knee, and the subsequent "vacation" from the links that is being forged by the residue of his circumstances.

Frankly, we are right there with it. We'll keep watching golf events, but it won't seem the same as when the Tiger is there. If we believe the reports, about 36% of those responding to limited polls say they won't watch at all till the Tiger comes home (on the course, that is). Another 22% say they will likely watch the Open and the PGA, maybe the Ryder Cup, but that's it. One viewer did suggest that maybe the TV viewing audience would not be lost so severely if they would simply put Tiger on the tube as a commentator during tournament play. Not a bad thought, though Tiger seems much too private for that kind of action, at least as we see it.

If anything was needed to scare the bejeebers out of corporate merchandisers and marketers, no one need look much further for a jolt, since they are already bemoaning the probability of lost revenues without Tiger's presence in the game. How many less new Buicks do you think will make it to neighborhood garages, assuming that, when the dust starts to clear, home owners still have their habitats and a place to put their cars or fuel to put in them?

There is borderline neurotic demonstration of concern in the media about what will happen to Tiger's record-chasing goals. Will he make it back in good shape? How long will it take? Will his knee end his career? How will he deal with the pain? Will he have to change his swing? Will it hurt his edge in distance? How far "back" will he come? How far can he come? [After this was finished, we saw the report from the surgeons that indicates all "thumbs up" for the future, even though we like to deal with what is, rather than with indications of what "should be."]

A cameo is in order - After seeing him with Sam and Elin at the conclusion of the Open, we'll make a bet he welcomes this "time off." Maybe others missed it, but when Tiger passed Sam back to Elin so he could hold the trophy, Sam wanted to go back to Tiger. Anyone who thinks this "tough minded" guy does not have a kinder, gentler side, isn't paying attention.

For those who wonder about the "knee-effect" - Don't!... Nobody will know how that concludes until healing time has come and gone.  Guess?, oh yeah, there will be plenty of prognostication. It's already there. Some are saying it will make a difference (great or small). Other say, "Nah. It won't matter." We say everything matters, but it won't go to the outcome unless placed on the allowable list of personal defensiveness, and that certainly is not in Tiger's eye - at least we think not.

What that means may not be apparent enough without a bit of illumination. As it happens, we know a left-leg amputee who was a scratch player on two good legs and (long story made short) got back to scratch on a prosthetic leg after we showed him the automatic process. (During his return, he couldn't get it going at first because he was taking a "defensive posture" to avoid any fragile potential from the prosthesis. On clear key™ he neutralized the defensiveness and got his old swing back, enabling him to win again. We surmise that there are many more shots lost to either a "defensive" or an "offensive" posture in the game than one might imagine, but any supporting data requires a profiled base for measurement, so the "proof" will have to wait on that process to become the rule rather than an exception. Defensive posturing follows a player's restrictive intentions, while offensive posturing comes from over-extending one's intentions. Either of those is reflected directly, and can be measured, in profiling of golfers. Any time a golfer has concerns about protecting a score, against an injury, against pain, among others, the anticipation will enter the shot making process in the form of tension - unless the player knows and wisely uses the automatic process. Taking on tension reduces flexibity and increases immobility. Do that enough and sooner or later, you will "break somthing," no matter how well trained you are.

We are aware that John Andrisani, in his book, "Think Like Tiger," points to "something" Tiger does with his game that he (Andrisani) believes is like our clear key™ (page 90ff). Andrisani got his impression from a third party who gave him a somewhat skewed and unfinished version, but it's close enough that we are determined to wait and see if Tiger actually does experience problems. In the event there is a reason to do so, we will contact Andrisani and find a way to get the rest of the clear key™ advantage to "the man." Our amputee was only one of many who has overcome what appeared to be a handicap, and we have found that most of those conditions that register negatively, exist more in the mind than the body, in an intention to "be careful."

We have had similar positive results, with 80 year old seniors having bad backs and teenaged mentally challenged folks, not to mention average citizens in between. We do not expect Tiger to have any negative setback, other than the months needed for rehab, but if any hint of that does appear, we will enter the fray, one way or another. And we do know and respect Tiger's desire and need for privacy, so there will be no invasive breaking and entering involved.

It boils down to this: If the commentators, professionals (players, teachers and shrinks) knew what we know, corporate anxiety and trepidation surrounding Tiger's infirmity would be greatly diminished. Tiger knows himself better than anyone else knows him (not to mention better than most of us know ourselves). That much is clear, so we hope that he fares well with what he faces and isn't stirred by the alarms that are sounding in the media.

As an afterthought, we think it was Johnny Miller who was ruminating about why Tiger evokes such wonder among golfers and others, when that kind of adulation was not so often apparent with Palmer and Nicklaus, or any of the other greats. There was some of that, but it had a different tone, volume and constancy.

As the saying was quoted above: "… (we) also happen to admire Tiger a lot. Beastly creature. Majestic. He has the perfect blend of flair, elegance, mystery, authority and… (in the eye of the competitive beholder)…Terror!" (with apologies to "Suresh"). To that, we would add his obvious passion, optimism, dedication, commitment to goals, and resolute tenacity, which transmits itself with electric excitement to all who watch him. The expression "one of a kind" indeed fits him literally, only he does the one-of-a-kind thing over and over again.

The rather universal perception of him is reinforced by a phenomenology, registered in the urgent depths of human need for what the word "resurrection" really means, virtually for everyone. The stuff of heroes that stand on the brink of defeat or death, only to rise up at the last moment and rescue everything in sight, is a constant theme in all of life, the movies, novels, and echoed in rounds of golf played by Tiger, like no other before him - with all due respect to Jones, Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, and any others you'd care to add.

To those who think Tiger was/is faking it, there really isn't much to say except that such impressions and perceptions typically flow from those whose own insecurities have driven them there. They could use clear keys, too, if they wish a more effective result. Even Retief Goosen might find that helpful.

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