Like I said in my opening post, lots of if's. Despite the positive side of the scenario I presented, there's also the other side of the coin. He's remained winless over the past half decade, and certainly - there are valid reasons for that. Yet the longer he goes without winning, the more difficult it only gets, the more wear and tear he puts on his back.
All that aside, he's gotta win something over the next year. Given the nature of the surgeries he's needed to even be able to walk upright again, let alone rehab his back to be able to play again - he probably knows his career is living on borrowed time. That's yet another dynamic of pressure that is very real.
I remember watching McGwire's chase to beat Roger Maris' record of 61 homers in the latter part of of the '98 season. The closer he got to the end of the regular season - the greater the pressure became on each at-bat, in each and every game left.
Tiger now faces a similar type of pressure as it relates to his comeback, albeit more health-related than anything else. Assuming he does get another 3-4 seasons out of his back, that's somewhere between 60-80 golf tournaments, 12-16 majors left (assuming he plans to play 20 tournaments/season).
Not a lot of time.
That's a lot of walking, a lot of uneven lies being played, a lot of golf swings, a lot of bending over to putt. And that's not including the practice sessions and practice rounds being played during those seasons as well.
Just some perspective.
I never thought Tiger would ever consider the Champions Tour beyond his PGA Tour days, because I didn't think his drive and motivation would be the same competing against guys older than him. And although the majors on the Champions Tour do add to the overall competitive resume, (and not trying to take anything away from guys like Langer and Hale Irwin, mind you, who both achieved much more in their senior playing days as it relates to overall wins and majors) I think we all agree that they're not ranked half as significant as the tournaments won, the majors won, on the young guys tour.
But now there's another reason I don't think we'll see him competing beyond 50. Given his history of back problems, I don't think I'm going out on much of a limb here in assuming that he'd rather be able to manage his pain and have some quality of life in retirement versus risking that in exchange for competing for purses half the value, or majors that basically have half the value of those he won on the regular tour.
I could be wrong, but I just don't see him looking beyond a playing career at 46-47 years of age, if he can somehow make it that long.
Just my opinion, of course.
PS - some great posts above that also add to the discussion. This was never meant to be a thread to slam Tiger or point out his past indiscretions. Just an honest question about where he is now mentally and physically and if there's anything he could do in the next several months to take you off the fence regarding him winning another major.