Tango-Tiger

Any mention of golf during the week of Thanksgiving used to be about the Skins Game.Now its hard not to think about Tiger Woods.It was five years ago this week when his private life began to unravel. It still seems surreal to recall the breaking news scrolling along the bottom of the television that Woods had been seriously injured in a car accident outside his home. The injury wasnt that serious. He was treated and released.And while the tree his SUV struck did far more damage, it was the fire hydrant he first ran over that became a symbol of the before-and-after nature of his career.There is a fascination with anniversaries. Is five years any more meaningful than four or six? Still, it seems appropriate to raise one question as Woods prepares to return to competition next week after another long layoff.Is this where you thought he would be five years later?He has gone through two swing coaches. He has changed caddies. He has gone from married with children to being a single dad. He still has 14 majors. And next week at the Hero World Challenge will his fifth comeback from injury.So much has changed, except for the expectations.Theyre just as high.And thats why the last five years — particularly the last one — would seem to be a lost cause.About this time a year ago, Woods was on the cusp of winning his World Challenge until Zach Johnson holed out from the drop zone for par on the 18th hole and went on to beat him in a playoff. That stuff used to only happen to Greg Norman.No problem. Woods was coming off another five-win season on the PGA Tour that only he can make look routine. He was PGA Tour player of the year for the 11th time, won the money title for the 10th time and captured the Vardon Trophy for the ninth time.But when he began this year as the defending champion at Torrey Pines, no one could have imagined what would follow.Woods has started only eight tournaments this year and finished only three of them. For the first time in his career, he did not register a top 10. There were two WDs (withdraws), two MCs (missed cuts) and one MDF (54-hole cut).He effectively was MIA.Recurring back pain led to surgery in March, which forced him to sit out three months and miss two majors. When he returned (earlier than he should have), he looked more like an old Woods than the Woods of old. And then he shut it down after the PGA Championship to get stronger.Is he as good as 25-year-old Rory McIlroy? No. For starters, Woods turns 39 next month.Can he challenge him?Considering the last five years as a whole, it might be too early to rule him out.—McIlroy with 13 wins worldwide is the only player to have won more than Woods (nine) over the last five years. Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood also have nine wins around the world.—Woods still has the highest winning percentage (12 per cent) of anyone in the last five years.—In the last five years, Woods has been at No. 1 in the world longer (60 weeks) than the other five players who have taken turns at the top of the ranking, and he is the only player to be No. 1 for a continuous year.Its not all that dire.Far more difficult to measure is how much Woods has been affected physically and emotionally since the crisis in his personal life unfolded Thanksgiving weekend in 2009.He doesnt seem to make as many big putts. But that started before he hit the fire hydrant. Otherwise, he would have won the PGA Championship at Hazeltine.He has lost precious time because of his Achilles tendon and his left knee, and more recently his back. Those injuries were a matter of time.The biggest change involves his corporate deals. Woods lost or did not renew sponsorship deals with Accenture, AT&T, Gillette, Gatorade, Tag Heuer and EA Sports. He has replaced them with Rolex, a Japanese heat rub, FUSE and and now Muscle Pharm. Nike remains his biggest sponsor, and Woods has made appearances in commercials and TV shows with McIlroy. There was a time when Woods didnt share his Nike stage with anyone.His performance in the majors is the most glaring difference, mainly because that always has been his ultimate measure.In the 16 majors he has played since 2010, Woods has only five top-five finishes, and he has not been a serious factor in the final hour of any of them. He has not broken 70 in the final round of a major since the Masters in 2011.He remains stuck on 14 majors dating to the 2008 U.S. Open. He is still four short of catching Jack Nicklaus.The week after Thanksgiving, Woods gets back to work. And that leads to another relevant question.Where will he be five years from now? Isaac Rochell Jersey . 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The motion to expand the stadiums capacity passed through by a count of 39-3, with Toronto mayor Rob Ford being among those in opposition.Norman, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Waters threw two touchdown passes and added a score on the ground, helping 14th-ranked Kansas State beat No. 11 Oklahoma 31-30 on Saturday afternoon. Waters completed passes to only three receivers while finishing 15-of-23 for 225 yards. Danzel McDaniel had an interception-return touchdown for the Wildcats (5-1, 3-0 Big 12), who posted their second win at Oklahoma in the last three years. The last time they won consecutive trips to Norman was in 1994 and 1997. Michael Hunnicutt tied a Big 12 record with his first made field goal for Oklahoma (5-2, 2-2), but missed his next two attempts, including a 19-yarder with about four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and an extra point. Trevor Knight connected on 26-of-32 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Sterling Shepard tied an Oklahoma single-game receptions record with 15 grabs for 197 yards and a touchdown. Waters opened the second half with a 53-yard run, but came down hard on his right shoulder when he was tackled. He finished the drive, which ended with Matthew McCrane kicking a 27-yard field goal to push K-States lead to 24-17 The Sooners, though, tied the game on the ensuing drive when Blake Bell caught a 4-yard touchdown pass. The next Wildcats possession began with runs of 38 and nine yards by DeMarcus Robinson. Waters then hit Curry Sexton for 21 yards before scoring on a 4-yard keeper to put K-State back on top. Oklahoma reached the red zone on its next drive, but came away with no points when a reverse pass by wide receiver Durron Neal was intercepted by Morgan Burns in the end zone. The Wildcats were forced to punt and pinned the Sooners deep to start the fourth quarter. Knight engineered a 11-play, 93-yard drive that ended with Neals 9-yard TD grab. Travis Britz blocked the extra point to preserve the lead for K-State. After a rare three-and-out, Oklahoma advanced the ball effectively on the ground with Samaje Perine.dddddddddddd The K-State defense, however, tackled Perine for a 1-yard loss on 3rd-and-goal from the 1. Hunnicutt then hooked what appeared to be a chip shot field goal wide-left. The Wildcats then converted a third down before running out the remaining time. Knight was injured on Oklahomas second possession of the game when a Kansas State player landed on his back while he was on the ground after a short run. Knight, who walked off the field with a trainer holding his left arm, missed only the rest of that series. When the drive resumed, Cody Thomas completed both of his passes in relief, but Alex Ross and Perine did most of the damage. Ross had a 42-yard run on the first play after Knight departed and Perine scored a touchdown on a 2-yard carry. The Wildcats had a quick response as Waters hit Glenn Gronkowski for a 62- yard touchdown pass. After a Nick Walsh punt pinned Oklahoma at its own 2 early in the second quarter, McDaniel picked off Knights pass on a quick out and returned it five yards for a touchdown. Knight shook off the interception, however, and came back to throw a 47-yard scoring strike to Shepard, tying the game at 14-14 less than a minute later. The Wildcats reclaimed the lead on their next drive, as Waters hooked up with Tyler Lockett on a 9-yard TD pass. Hunnicutt then made a 38-yard field goal, but he missed a 32-yard try at the end of the half. He matched Mason Crosby for the most made field goals in conference history with 71. Game Notes Oklahoma fullback Aaron Ripkowski was ejected in the first quarter for targeting the head of a Kansas State player ...