Tiger Woods celebrates his two-stroke victory of the Tour Championship, the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club. Photo / Getty Images
Tiger Woods celebrates his two-stroke victory of the Tour Championship, the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club. Photo / Getty Images
Tiger Woods is the sports story of the year.
That's what we used to write and say back in the early years of the century when he was as near as any golfer has ever been to unbeatable.
But when those sad, tragic mugshots emerged of him in police custody last year, the chances of him ever being a competitive golfer again were as distant as the look in his eyes.
Yet on Monday morning we witnessed the greatest comeback in golf since Ben Hogan recovered from a near fatal car accident in 1949 to win the US Open in 1950.
There was something special brewing in Atlanta from as early as last Friday, the first day of the season-ending Tour Championship. His eagle on the final hole in the first round suggested that after a near miss in the PGA Championship last month, Tiger was ready to contend - and win - again.
On Monday morning the question was this: Would the mental frailty that had earmarked his other winning opportunities this year surface again?
Most emphatically the answer was no. He made birdie on the first and looked to be playing like a man in control of both his swing and his emotions.
Many has been the time in recent years when you just couldn't say that - as another tee shot flared away right and he slammed his driver into the ground.
Even before the final round started, there had been stories about record TV ratings. The crowds on the last day were just spectacular. This is the impact the guy has.
He won 46 times in his 20s. He won 33 times between the ages 30 and 39. Now he's 42. Plenty of major championships have been won by men older than that.
In many a conversation, public and private, from a TV studio to a golf club bar, I have not been slow in saying that Tiger Woods would never win another major championship.
I just didn't think he had the mental strength to do it anymore, to reach those extraordinary heights of 2000-2001 when he completed the "Tiger Slam" of four major championships in succession.
After what I saw I last weekend, I've turned the oven on to heat the humble pie. He's back.
If you're banned from sport, how can you can take part in sport? Photo / File
If you're banned from sport, how can you can take part in sport?
That's the legal and ethical question in the case of Brendon Keenan. He's the Rotorua policeman who ran the Tauranga Marathon last weekend and won the 40-44 year-olds section.
He's been banned from "all sport" by Drug Free Sport New Zealand for importing EPO, a performance-enhancing drug.
But the Tauranga International Marathon is not sanctioned by Athletics New Zealand so didn't count as "sport" for the purposes of the ban.
There are many events these days which are organised outside the auspices of national sporting bodies, especially in the running-cycling-multisport-endurance space. They exist because there's such a huge market for the "weekend warrior" social athlete wanting a challenge.
But the prospect of having banned athletes competing is something most event promoters just would not contemplate.
So now two things need to happen to stop a repeat of the Keenan situation.
All event entry forms must ask the question "are you currently banned from sports events by Drug Free Sport New Zealand?" If the answer is yes, then the entry will not be accepted.
Appropriate penalties for an incorrect answer must be included in the entry form's terms and conditions.
Then local councils, DOC and the NZTA who provide the roads and land for these events must insist on that question, and the terms and conditions, being on the entry form before they give permission for the event to take place.
Keenan was legally allowed to do what he did. But in my opinion it was ethically and morally reprehensible. Nice look for a policeman too. Not.
