Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship Sunday. From his first Masters win in 1997and for years thereafter, Tiger enjoyed unprecedented hero worship. As his win list grew so did his legions of devoted followers. Yes, Tiger was our hero. And then he wasn’t.

The arc of his five year journey back to golf relevance is well documented. Personal scandal and health issues including four major back operations removed him from the game and from our favor. And his struggle to regain his game has been at times difficult to watch. But through perseverance, talent, herculean effort and a laser focus, Tiger has returned. And as the film clips and headlines reveal, he is our hero again.

So how then can we mere mortal golfers, us hackers, possibly find kinship with our hero?

After all, we share none of the attributes that make Tiger great.

Most of us will enter charity golf tournaments without victory even in our sights. We set the bar low- “just don’t let us be last”. We choose our foursome mates to share in the fun of playing an unwinnable game, and as we flail on the tees and toil in the bunkers, we’ll laugh at the occasional “whiff” and rejoice together in the rare birdie. Hopefully we’ll practice gratitude for the gift of standing on hallowed sod to pursue the game we both love and hate.

But mostly we enter these tournaments for the causes. In the course of a season our fees will help send high schoolers to college, help ease the pain of disease and support the hunt for their cures, help feed, house, employ, protect and otherwise improve the lives of the disadvantaged. Our presence in these tournaments will support the arts and animal welfare, preserve our precious places, build trails and fund our volunteer emergency services.

In their aggregate, these tournaments, and the weekend warriors who play in them, raise the quality of life for all of us.

So, who’s the hero now?