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      Arnold Palmer’s Legacy Hints at What Tiger Woods Might Leave Behind

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWoods Undergoes More ProceduresWill He Play Again?Golf Without TigerA Terrible Turn of FateHonoring WoodsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyArnold Palmer’s Legacy Hints at What Tiger Woods Might Leave BehindThe link between the two golf legends feels stronger than ever, and players at the Arnold Palmer Invitational can’t help but make the connection.A statue of Arnold Palmer near the first tee at Bay Hill during the final practice round for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.Credit…Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockMarch 4, 2021Updated 9:08 p.m. ETORLANDO, Fla. — In a fashion befitting someone born in 1929, Arnold Palmer valued a certain comportment, like men removing their hats when they went indoors. Rory McIlroy, born in 1989, played in the famed Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time in 2015 and watched with a bit of wonder as the hat protocol was politely enforced in the players’ dining room, sometimes by a smiling Palmer.“I came to really like it,” McIlroy said of the etiquette still practiced at the event in honor of Palmer, who died in 2016. “It’s one of the ways you still feel Arnie’s legacy and presence.”A week ago, after Tiger Woods sustained serious injuries in a car crash, talk of Woods’s legacy and presence was pervasive on the PGA Tour. This week at Arnold Palmer’s tournament, which Woods has won eight times, the link between the two golf legends seems stronger than ever, perhaps in ways that may shape Woods’s standing in the game going forward.After the first round on Thursday, Mcllroy and Corey Conners were tied for the lead at six under par.With Woods still on their minds, numerous players have made the connection, keenly aware that the impact Palmer made on golf and international culture was replicated by Woods 40 years later. “Certainly, Arnie was and should be the role model for all professional golfers,” Jordan Spieth said Wednesday.Sam Saunders, Palmer’s grandson who has played on the PGA Tour, said he believed that his grandfather had laid the groundwork for what Woods later accomplished, and that the annual appearances by today’s top golfers at the Palmer Invitational had become a way “for them to remember that Arnold Palmer kind of started it.”Saunders added: “We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing right now were it not for his bringing the game to television and making it popular, making it a game for everyone. He started it, Tiger has continued it, and so many great players along the way have added to that.”A younger generation of pro golfers seems to revel in the Palmer lore at Bay Hill, the tournament site. Near the first tee, they take pictures next to the bronze statue of the golfer, which captures his distinctive, powerful follow-through. Spieth took a tour of Palmer’s museum-like office on Wednesday. Two years ago, the rising star Viktor Hovland, then 21, was guided around the grounds by Palmer’s longtime assistant, Doc Giffin. Perhaps if Hovland had more time, he might have learned how Palmer, in part because of his blue-collar, Western Pennsylvania roots, had pried golf from its country-club origins and, for the first time, made the sport cool. Palmer had charisma, dressed with pizazz, played with white-hot emotion and struck evocative poses that seemed made for a television camera. Palmer’s life became a particularly mid-20th century American story as he launched multiple prosperous companies, earned scores of corporate endorsements and made himself a worldwide brand — all as a golfer who last won a PGA Tour event in 1973.Arnold Palmer competing in the Thunderbird Classic at the Upper Montclair Country Club in 1968.Credit…Robert Walker/The New York TimesPalmer also magnanimously strayed from his designated lane. More than a dozen PGA Tour players who live near Orlando remarked this week that their children were born at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, named for Arnold’s wife of nearly 50 years. It is across the street from the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.It is likely that millions of people around the world know Arnold Palmer not for his golf but because of the popular soft drink, iced tea combined with lemonade, that bears his name. In the end, perhaps he most enjoyed his status as a beloved, wise elder who was constantly approached by advice-seeking pro golfers — young and seasoned — who knew that no one had persevered and succeeded in golf like Arnold Palmer.It is in all these ways that Palmer’s life after his playing career might serve as an example for how Tiger Woods, if he chooses, could continue to deeply influence golf for decades to come. Woods has already taken multiple steps to do so, in modern ways that are tailored to his specific interests and causes.But as Woods watches this weekend’s Palmer Invitational — and his social media accounts made it plain that he was watching the PGA Tour last weekend — it will be easy to note the homage paid to Palmer’s almost lifelong leadership role in golf. Woods, an idol to the current generation of players in the same way Palmer was to the golfers who came after him, has the platform to forge a similar legacy. The two had a warm relationship, and Woods knows plenty about the path Palmer deliberately chose.And it appears he already knows his manners. Of Woods’s eight victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, one of the most notable came when he sank a twisting 24-foot putt on the final hole to win the 2008 tournament. What made the moment most memorable was Woods’s reaction to that clinching putt: Perhaps anticipating a walk back to the clubhouse, he grabbed his hat and flung it to the ground.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Collin Morikawa Wins Workday Title on a Day of Tributes to Woods

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWoods Undergoes More ProceduresWill He Play Again?Golf Without TigerA Terrible Turn of FateHonoring WoodsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCollin Morikawa Wins Workday Title on a Day of Tributes to WoodsMorikawa, 24, who won the 2020 P.G.A. Championship in August, is doing things only Tiger Woods had done before turning 25.Collin Morikawa celebrated after winning the Workday Championship on Sunday in Bradenton, Fla.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressFeb. 28, 2021, 9:20 p.m. ETBRADENTON, Fla. — Although he was atop the leaderboard, Collin Morikawa stumbled repeatedly on Saturday and Sunday at the PGA Tour’s Workday Championship, even calling one of his setbacks “stupidity at its finest.”But surmounting the unsettling vicissitudes of golf with a winning, steely resolve is becoming the hallmark of Morikawa’s career. Such a performance seemed especially appropriate on Sunday when tour players and fans honored Tiger Woods by wearing red shirts and black pants, Woods’s signature final-round outfit.In the end, Morikawa, 24, confidently persevered with a three-stroke victory in the World Golf Championship event to join Woods as the only player to win a major golf championship and a World Golf Championship event before age 25. Like many in the tournament’s field, Morikawa, who won last year’s P.G.A. Championship in August, grew up idolizing Woods. Standing next to the 18th green Sunday evening, Morikawa said of Woods, who remained hospitalized after a car crash in Los Angeles County, Calif., on Tuesday, “Tiger means everything to me.”He added: “I don’t think we say thank you enough, so I want to say thank you to Tiger because sometimes you lose people too early.”Morikawa mentioned Kobe Bryant and his paternal grandfather, Toshio, who he said died a month ago.“You don’t get to say thank you enough,” Morikawa said.The third-round leader, Morikawa turned in a Woods-like performance on Sunday, holding off the strongest tour field so far this year. It was Morikawa’s fourth PGA Tour victory, a stunning turnaround from his first, inglorious moment in the tour spotlight only eight months ago.At the Charles Schwab Classic in June, which was the first tournament last year after the men’s tour’s 90-day layoff because of the pandemic, Morikawa missed a three-foot putt that ended a two-man playoff that he lost. Just three events later, he won his first pro tournament, then added the P.G.A. Championship. Morikawa has ascended to sixth in the world rankings with a string of steady performances.Going through the crucible of successfully defending his third-round lead at the Concession Golf Club could be a springboard to more victories.“It makes me a little more comfortable after sleeping on the lead knowing that guys were ready to go low today,” Morikawa said. “I do feel confident.”Morikawa did not wear a red shirt in the final round, although his clothing manufacturer shipped him one. He said weather might have delayed the arrival.Morikawa was pursued on Sunday by two other young hotshots, Viktor Hovland, 23, and Scottie Scheffler, 24. He also had to fend off Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner. Hovland made eight birdies to pressure Morikawa, who entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, but he faltered with bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes and finished in a three-way tie for second. Scheffler also had eight birdies, but a double bogey on the par-4 16th hole was his undoing and dropped him to fifth place. Koepka had an up-and-down round with five birdies and three bogeys, which stalled his charge, although he managed to tie Hovland and Billy Horschel for second.On Saturday, after Morikawa three-putted the 13th hole to make bogey, he called the outcome “stupidity at its finest.” He three-putted the 13th hole again on Sunday, but this time it led to a par, which was all he needed at the time to hold on to his three-stroke lead.“I said that yesterday because I psyched myself out before I even played the 13th hole,” Morikawa said of his “stupidity” remark. “But I learned from yesterday.” More

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      Honoring Tiger Woods, in Red and Black

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      Honoring Tiger Woods, in Red and BlackPhelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressTo honor Tiger Woods, who remains hospitalized after a car crash, a number of PGA Tour golfers, like Tommy Fleetwood and Cameron Champ, wore his signature final-round outfit at the Workday Championship on Sunday.See more of the tributes → More

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      The Impact and Influence of Tiger Woods: Here. There. Everywhere.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWill Woods Play Again?Sheriff Expects No ChargesGolf Without TigerA Terrible Turn of FateCareer Highs and LowsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOn GolfThe Impact and Influence of Tiger Woods: Here. There. Everywhere.From fitness trailers to fist pumps and golf’s global representation, the star, recovering in the hospital after a serious car crash, has a hefty presence at a PGA tournament even when he’s not playing in it.Tiger Woods’s shadow loomed large Thursday at a World Golf Championship event, the first on the PGA tour since the news of his car crash.Credit…Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockFeb. 25, 2021Updated 7:59 p.m. ETBRADENTON, Fla. — Tiger Woods was never expected to play in the first round of the PGA Tour event held Thursday in Central Florida. It did not matter. His presence, his influence, the impact of his life and career was evident throughout the grounds.If this is at least the beginning of the end of the Woods era in golf, in the wake of his serious car crash Tuesday, the setting at the Concession Golf Club, where the tournament is being held, revealed much about what he has meant to the sport and the almost incalculable change he has wrought.It was nearly impossible to look in any direction and not see Woods’s imprint.On the serpentine drive into the golf course, multiple, extra-wide trailers labeled “Player Performance Center” lined the road. They are mobile fitness facilities chock-full of treadmills and advanced exercise equipment.It would now be unthinkable to host a PGA Tour event without them, and the trailers log about 25,000 miles annually to keep up with the 100-plus pro golfers whose exacting workouts are now a sacrosanct part of their tournament regimens.Roughly 25 years ago, more PGA Tour players probably smoked than worked out during an event. What changed?Tiger Woods turned pro in 1996, won the Masters a year later and two months after that made the fastest ascent to No. 1 in the world golf rankings. Moreover, he was a workout freak, had started beefing up and his prodigious drives would soon spawn the redesign of top golf courses around the world.Golfers back then were a hodgepodge of shapes, some with bellies that bulged over gaudy white belts. It was an image that perpetuated the notion that golf was not a sport. There is a different look on the tour these days, and a short walk from the fitness trailers to the practice range would prove it.From behind the range, one could assess the form and movements of several dozen top golfers whose ages ranged from about 20 to 40. Nearly all had trim, athletic builds — and flat stomachs. They swung ferociously hard, yet never seemed out of balance, a compliment to their conditioning and developed strength and flexibility. Most had learned and honed that mix of pliancy and power from watching a single uber-dedicated golfer, their idol, Tiger Woods. Even the swing coaches who stood by the golfers had studied and memorized every Woods move before he had turned 30 years old. In other words, by the time he had won his 10th major championship.Just beyond the range was the first tee, and the path leading to it was awash in the emblems of corporate sponsors. Professional golf had always been supported by commercial interests but that relationship blossomed exponentially as Woods came up on the scene with a memorable Nike television advertisement when he stared into the camera and said: “Hello, world.”Thursday, there was a scoreboard near the first tee encircled by not one, but seven logos from tournament sponsors. The prize money for the one-week event is $10.5 million, or around five times what PGA Tour tournaments paid before Woods turned pro.This week’s event is a World Golf Championship event, a collaborative effort to periodically bring together the best players from tours in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. There were no world championships until 1999, by which time Woods, whose multicultural background had helped golf explode internationally, had won two majors and 13 PGA Tour events (and, of course, he won two of the three inaugural World Golf Championships in 1999).As play began in the first round, long putts dropped and players celebrated with uppercut, clenched fist pumps. There was no reason to ask where they learned such a signature move. They wore eye-catching colors made by top designers who earned most of their revenue outside golf and their garb was embossed with the logos of sponsors whose customers might not even be golfers: luxury car manufactures, credit card companies, premium watch makers. Woods pioneered such crossover appeal.It did not matter where one walked. Woods was here. Wednesday, Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner who grew up idolizing Woods and now considers him a close friend, was asked if the players in this week’s field had considered some kind of tribute to Woods. McIlroy shook his head back and forth.“He’s not gone,” McIlroy said. “I feel like we should pay tribute to him every day for being on the PGA Tour and what he’s done for golf.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Tiger Woods and Another Terrible Turn of Fate

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWill He Play Again?Sheriff Expects No ChargesGolf Without WoodsA Terrible Turn of FateCareer Highs and LowsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySports of the TimesTiger Woods and Another Terrible Turn of FateIt is easy to cling to memories of Tiger Woods at his peaks, but his vulnerability tells as much, if not more, about his powerful hold on sport and culture.Tiger Woods at Augusta National Golf Club in 2019, when he won his fifth Masters title and his 15th major championship.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesFeb. 25, 2021Updated 8:08 a.m. ETThe sight of his demolished S.U.V., sitting forlornly on a grassy Southern California hillside, belied the image of Tiger Woods as an invincible force marching across the golf course to certain, thrilling triumph.That was not always the case, and lately his victories have been far from commanding. But so much is embodied in Tiger. And in this period of pandemic and relentless loss, we struggle to confront visions of a crumpled vehicle, of him lying in a hospital bed, of leg bones shattered and questions about whether he will play again — while still dissecting who he is and what he has wrought.What happened to the sterling athlete who so many expected to reshape the game of golf and even, perhaps, the broader culture?Woods’s greatness, once seemingly preordained, has been dimmed over the past dozen years by stunning falls from grace and by betrayal from his body.But many of us still cling to him, even if it means grasping at shards of memory. We remember the prodigy who burst into view on the nationally televised “Mike Douglas Show,” hitting putts at age 2.We remember his Stanford years and the Masters of 1997, the first of 15 major titles, won in history-making fashion at age 21.When you think of Woods, what comes to mind?After his first Masters victory in 1997, Woods received his green jacket from Nick Faldo, the previous year’s winner.Credit…Amy Sancetta/Associated PressIs he the superstar who lived for toppling records? Who grew up with his eyes fixed on breaking Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major championships? Recall that there was a time when this seemed like an audacious, even arrogant, goal. Then he set about the chase, quickly drawing oh-so-near to Nicklaus, major after major. Is he the golfer whose very presence in a largely segregated, upper-crust sport was not only startling, but also a harbinger of the issues that frame our world today?With his shimmering brown skin, his power and confidence, Woods blew down the doors of the all-white country clubs. Remember the snide and easy way in which the golf veteran Fuzzy Zoeller referred to Woods as “that little boy”? Or Zoeller’s publicly urging Woods not to put fried chicken and collard greens on the menu of the Masters’ champions dinner?That was the golf culture Woods strode into, and took over, as the world watched.But how did he see himself? Here things get tricky. Raised in predominantly white suburbs by a mother from Thailand and an African-American father, Woods was one of the first major sports figures to openly embrace the idea that he represented multiplicity. “Growing up,” he told Oprah Winfrey shortly after that first Masters win, “I came up with this name: I’m a Cablinasian.”In a world that struggles to go beyond placing race in tidy boxes, that comment alienated some of his most ardent supporters. But if he was chided for seeming to keep his Blackness at a distance, it didn’t dent his popularity. No matter how Woods defined himself, he was imbued with a certain power. Forever the trailblazer and talisman. He put a torch to the old order. That was enough.Then came 2009, and a troubling descent. It began with tabloid tales of the married Woods engaging in serial infidelity. Eventually his deepest flaws were exposed: his illicit texts, his trysts, his trips to rehab as he battled addiction.Woods frustrated at a tournament in 2018.Credit…Sam Hodgson for The New York TimesWoods was among the first transcendent sports stars to emerge at the dawn of the digital age. His aura, his race, his swagger and shotmaking, the club twirls and fist bumps and miracle shots — all of it was perfectly suited for YouTube and the rise of sports apps that feast on fleeting moments and sensational emotion.The digital age also magnified his troubles. Each imperfection was there to see, personal and professional. For much of a decade, as the advancing years wreaked havoc on his body and the surgeries piled up, Woods was a shadow of his former self. Heading into 2019, he had not won a major tournament in nearly 11 years.Yet Woods somehow remained swaddled in Teflon. The revelation of his human frailties cost him plenty of fans and endorsements. But a significant portion of his admirers forgave and forgot. The continued embrace was a willful act by a public all too eager to dole out second and third chances to a winner. Especially a winner like Woods.He continued to be a top draw, a global icon, even as he grimaced through season after season, age and injury taking an ever-steeper toll. At one point, he was ranked 1,119th in the world. But then came April 2019, and the Masters. Summoning every remnant of his former self, he surged to victory, legions celebrating his fifth champion’s green jacket.Nobody who watched that tournament will forget it. Not just the stirring comeback, but the sight of Woods wrapping his son, Charlie, and his daughter, Sam, in his arms as he walked from the final green. It called to mind the embrace given by Woods’s father, Earl, after the Masters win in 1997. It spoke, too, of poignant change in the face of time. Woods was no longer the soaring young champion, but he could still reach the highest peaks, if only in short bursts.Woods after winning the 2019 Masters, his first major victory in over a decade. Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesApril 2019 feels so long ago, given all that the world has gone through this past year.And now this. On Tuesday we saw the remains of that S.U.V. and waited for the updates. We shuddered, remembering Kobe Bryant’s helicopter, strewn across another Southern California hillside just over a year ago.We listened as a sheriff and his deputies described the wreckage, explaining that Woods was lucky to be alive and that drugs and alcohol did not appear to be involved. They said he had been pried from his vehicle and carried off on a stretcher.“Unfortunately,” said one of them, “Mr. Woods was not able to stand on his own power.”How could such a circumstance befall Tiger Woods, who strode across majestic golf courses with so much purpose? It was a reminder, once again, that heroes are human, full of weakness, unable to dodge the terrible twists of fate that stalk us all.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Will Tiger Woods Play Golf Again? Doctors Predict a Difficult Recovery

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWill He Play Again?Sheriff Expects No ChargesGolf Without WoodsCareer Highs and LowsEven before Tuesday’s crash, Tiger Woods’s career had been hampered by injuries in his neck, back, knee and lower legs.Credit…Illustration by Tim Oliver/The New York Times; Photograph by Rob Carr/Getty ImagesSkip to contentSkip to site indexWill Tiger Woods Play Golf Again? Doctors Predict a Difficult RecoveryAfter a serious car crash on Tuesday, he risks infections, bones that do not heal, and foot and ankle injuries that impede walking.Even before Tuesday’s crash, Tiger Woods’s career had been hampered by injuries in his neck, back, knee and lower legs.Credit…Illustration by Tim Oliver/The New York Times; Photograph by Rob Carr/Getty ImagesSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 24, 2021Updated 9:33 p.m. ETThe serious lower leg injuries Tiger Woods sustained in a car crash on Tuesday typically lead to a long and perilous recovery, calling into question his ability to play professional golf again, according to medical experts who have treated similar injuries.Athletes with severe leg injuries thought to doom their careers have managed to come back — the quarterback Alex Smith returned to playing football last season after a gruesome leg break, and the golfer Ben Hogan returned decades ago after a car accident.But Woods’s injuries are more extensive, and his path to recovery is strewn with serious obstacles. Infections, inadequate bone healing and, in Woods’s case, previous injuries and chronic back problems may make a monthslong or even yearslong recovery more difficult, and may reduce the chances that he will play again.In the accident near Los Angeles, Woods’s lower right leg was smashed and his right foot severely injured, and his leg muscles swelled so much that surgeons had to cut open the tissue covering them to relieve pressure, Dr. Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer at Harbor-U.C.L.A. Medical Center, where Woods, 45, was treated, wrote in a Twitter message posted on Woods’s account.Doctors also inserted a rod into Woods’s shin bone, and screws and pins into his foot and ankle. Physicians familiar with these kinds of injuries described the complications they typically bring.The injuries are frequently seen among drivers involved in car accidents, said Dr. R. Malcolm Smith, the chief of orthopedic trauma at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass. Usually they occur when the driver frantically stomps on the brake as a car careens out of control.When the front end of the car is smashed, immense force is transmitted to the driver’s right leg and foot. “This happens every day with car crashes in this country,” Dr. Smith said.Such lower-leg fractures on occasion bring “massive disability” and other grave consequences, said Dr. Smith. “A very rough estimate is that there is a 70 percent chance of it healing completely,” he added.The crash caused a cascade of injuries. It smashed Woods’s shin bones, with primary breaks in the top and bottom parts of the bones and a scattering of bone fragments. When the bones in Woods’s shin shattered, they damaged muscles and tendons; pieces poked from his skin.The trauma caused bleeding and swelling in his leg, threatening his muscles. Surgeons had to quickly cut into the layer of thick tissue covering his leg muscles to relieve the swelling. Had they not, the tissue that covers swelling muscle would have acted like a tourniquet, constricting blood flow. The muscle can die within four to six hours.It is possible that some muscle died anyway, between the accident and the surgery, Dr. Smith said: “Once you lose it, you cannot get it back.” More

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      What We Know About Tiger Woods' Car Accident and Condition

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Tiger Woods’s Car CrashWhat to KnowOut of Surgery and ‘Recovering’Details of the CrashWoods Recalls First U.S. Open WinAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat to Know About Tiger Woods’s Car Crash and ConditionWoods was said to have been driving at a “greater speed than normal” when his S.U.V. went over a median strip and rolled over several times.Tiger Woods’s S.U.V. being towed after the crash on Tuesday.Credit…Allison Zaucha for The New York TimesKevin Draper and Published More