Tiger Woods' next shot at redemption will occur August 12 - 15 at Whistling Straits Golf Club, where he has announced that he will be playing in the PGA Championship this year. Officials have confirmed that Woods' entry form was among the first four they received, along with Masters Champion Phil Mickelson.

Woods was second in the PGA Championship last year, in less than glorious fashion. He gave up a two-shot lead over South Korean Yang Yong-eun in the final round, marking the first time he has ever failed to win a major championship while sharing the lead on Sunday. Yang was considered to be the first Asian to win a PGA major, although it is well-known that Tiger Woods is of Asian-American heritage.

Tiger's performance in this particular major matters more than most for a couple of reasons. First, Tiger Woods lives for the majors: When he first started to play golf, he would isolate himself from the world for several days before playing in a major championship. He has also made it public for decades that his sole objective was to break the "unbreakable" record of 18 major championship wins, held by the great Jack Nicklaus. Tiger is now at 14 majors, and I argue that the number would be higher had he not decided to create and destroy a marriage to Elin Nordegren five years ago. Either Tiger should have committed himself to the quiet, simple life of a married, focused family man, or he should have waited another 10 years before walking down the isle. But then again, how many of us have made all the right personal decisions in our own lives?

Secondly, a great performance this week by Woods might help erase the stain to his reputation that has come from his publicly disastrous marriage. Woods has emerged as the bad guy in his marriage with Elin, with her reportedly walking away with $100 million for her trouble. His golden boy image has been replaced by that of a philandering man who loves to sleep with porn stars and cocktail waitresses. The only thing that can remove the bad taste from the public's mouth is an amazing performance by Woods. The world needs to be reminded that he's the greatest golfer in the history of all mankind.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.