It’s Sunday morning with one round left in the CA Championship at Doral. Tiger Woods is 9 strokes back of the leaders and – this may be going way out on a limb – HE WON”T WIN!

Of course, this minor hiccup won’t deter the folks at NBC. Today’s telecast will invariably carry the full complement of Tiger references, Tiger sightings, Tiger trivia. Someone, probably Mark Rolfing, will predict that if Tiger can get off to a quick start today, he’s right back in it.

“If Tiger can eagle his first five or six holes he can put some pressure on the leaders. A 57 this afternoon gets him right back in this. That will put him at 22 under and after that, anything can happen.”

Rolfing won’t be the only idiot. Miller, Hicks, Maltbie and Koch will put the Over/Under on Tiger references well into six figures while the producers deliver the usual melange of Tiger glory, past and present. There will be the required replay of how Tiger won the US Open last spring on one leg with a fever of 108, just days after donating most of his organs to Famine Relief.

Then of course, we will watch for the umteenth time all those “Great Moments in Sport” featuring, you know who, each with their own catch phrase now seared into our memory banks. “Better than most!” “One for the Ages!” “Oh my!”

Pardon me while I gag.

Over at the Tiger Channel, Rich Lerner and Kelly Tilghman are huddled with writers trying to find a new script to top “the greatest comeback in sports history.” If you didn’t see it, try to catch the replay. After eight months away from tournament play, Tiger returns to beat the 64th ranked player in the world. Can you imagine? Number 64!

Perspective here people. Let’s get some perspective.

Did they ever hear of a guy named Ben Hogan? Had a brief layoff after a minor altercation with a Greyhound bus. Nearly died. Recovered to win the US Open. No? Never heard of it? Oh you thought it was a movie script?

I thought comebacks were when a team came from 25 points down in the fourth quarter to win the Super Bowl or when a player came back after years in oblivion and actually won something. Tiger didn’t win the tournament. He came back to play after an injury. Period!

The people who call the shots at the TV networks seem to think we can’t get enough of Tiger. In fact many of them feel that if Tiger’s not playing, then there’s no golf to report.

I recently read a blog about the impact of Tiger on tournaments and telecasts. Here’s what author Robert Bruce had to say, “Simply put: When Tiger ain’t playing, ain’t nobody watchin’. In the past eight months, golf was off the radar — even while major notables like Mickelson, Kim, Singh, Villegas and Garcia played every week. During that same period, ratings sucked.

Don’t get me wrong. When Tiger’s in contention, it’s very exciting. But when he’s out of contention or worse, when he’s not even playing, there are 155 other stories in the field that week, some of them pretty compelling. For the long term good of viewership, the suits better develop some other story lines.

After all, Tiger won’t play forever. He’s slated to run unopposed for the US Presidency in 2024 when he’s 48 and after that anything can happen. In the meantime, barring a hangnail or bunions, I guess Tiger can keep golf on TV in pretty decent shape for at least 15 more years. By then Tiger’s son Charlie Axel, (don’t get me started) will turn 16 and probably be even better than his Dad. “Oh my!”