one word stands out in your post there Jim, potential.
tiger has by no means realised his full potential, and i would love to see him do it, as you said.
i dont know if he will show the same commitment as he did though, due to his engagement to the beautiful....( ) Elin Nordegren. Family life, and the attraction of kids may get in the way.
Naw GAZ, that will eventually make him a better golfer because he will mature. Trust me on this, Tiger's best is yet to come, and it will happen after the wedding and the kids.
I consider myself a fan of Tiger but I would love to see Ernie overtake him at the #1 spot. Then I wouldn't mind a battle where they (or other Tour players) overtake each other. I do enjoy watching history being made but I enjoy competition even more. I do want there to be big names like Tiger, Els, Vijay, Phil and I want them to be raising the bar as a group. I think we would see some exciting golf instead of one player lapping the field.
I don't think it's been mentioned here either but Tiger tied Greg Norman's consecutive weeks at #1 streak. If he is #1 after this week, he'll break it.
I noticed that during the Battle at the Bridges...they had a pop-up that said
Player............................................ .# Weeks at #1
Greg Norman.....................................331
Tiger Woods......................................330
Someone else....................................Some other number
I don't think it's been mentioned here either but Tiger tied Greg Norman's consecutive weeks at #1 streak. If he is #1 after this week, he'll break it.
That's motivation enough for El Tigre. Who wants to give up a streak like that? Tiger likes records...they motivate him. Now Tiger is human and golf has a way of making the most talented among us suffer the most but...his game has been slowly coming around, as Gaz said, and only one broken link in the chain breaks the streak and he knows it. That's motivation. Sometimes that'll make you bring your game shoes. I'm sure there's a couple o' guys on tour that aren't particularly scared of him right now (figure of speech) and maybe he won't win this week but I'll be very surprised if he doesn't play well...I don't know how long Tiger can hold on to his position at #1...some say until he retires...I don't know about that but I bet he's not ready to give it up just yet and I don't think he has to win to retain it...never underestimate the tiger.
whether Tiger is ready or not i believe he will give up his #1 spot before the Ryder Cup. But he will still set the record for most weeks @ #1. Which is quite an accomplishment that wont be broken by anyone for a long while.