By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
After months in seclusion, we’ve spotted the life form we’ve
known as Tiger Woods and the one that recently became America’s most famous
serial cheater. The world paused last
Friday as Woods apparently emerged from, judging from its effectiveness, the
same bunker Dick Cheney used during his Vice Presidency to issue an obligatory
public apology for his outrageous behavior.
Tiger’s disappearance, of course, followed the bizarre incidents over
Thanksgiving weekend and the public unveiling of his countless affairs. Tiger’s always been obsessed with breaking
Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships. Having won 14 so far, he was (and still is) very much on
pace. But who knew he was also on pace to
challenge the claimed sexual exploits of Wilt Chamberlain and Gene
Simmons? My goodness, using his
mistresses, I think we could all map to Tiger within six degrees of
separation. Eat your heart out Kevin
Bacon.
Seriously though, what Tiger did was reprehensible and, to
date, unexplained (he’s allegedly a sex addict, although he made no such
admission). The man was simultaneously
living the life of a rich, successful playboy and a married father of two young
children. Not even Tiger Woods can
balance those two realities without causing collateral damage. So after a lengthy hiatus, he finally did
what he knew he had to do: publicly apologize and take responsibility for his
actions. His statement hit all the
marks, didn’t seem “lawyer-ed up” or overproduced and seemed reasonably
genuine. Only Tiger knows if it really
was and time will tell if he can live up to this new self-imposed moral
standard. To be honest though, his
words matter little. The event itself
was captivating in that it portrayed Woods, the biggest fish in the sporting
world’s pond, as small and unassuming in the sea of everyday life.
It was fascinating to see this giant sports figure
completely disarmed – neutered if you will - by his personal actions. Even if it was an Academy Award winning
performance, we’ve never seen Woods even flirt with humility, but last Friday
we saw Superman bleed. Here was the
endlessly arrogant Woods facing the harsh consequences of his actions,
desperate to reclaim the life he once had but recklessly discarded. To that end, he appealed to three distinct
groups, asking each to treat him better than he ever treated them. He asked the media, a group he has routinely
dismissed and barely tolerated, to leave his family alone during this difficult
time. He asked fans, the people from
whom he has expected the reverence peasants bestow on royalty, to believe in
him again. And most importantly, he
apologized to his family and specifically his wife, a woman he completely
humiliated. Forget for a minute how difficult
it must be to be Tiger Woods at the moment and consider what it must be like to
be Elin Woods.
We can only wait and see what the future holds for
Woods. It is unlikely the media will
heed his request to back off. The
sensational - good or bad - is the foundation of today’s press. And anyway, I’m not sure Tiger’s in a
position to be anyone’s moral compass.
Golf fans (me included) will ignore his domestic sins the minute he
returns and cheer his unrivaled performance in clutch situations. But Tiger Woods, the brand, has likely
peaked. He will never return to the
transcendent, iconic level he had reached right up to the moment his SUV hit
that fire hydrant last November. As for
his marriage, that’s between him and Elin.
Marriage is challenging without fame, fortune and countless
girlfriends. With all that
(particularly the latter), it might be unsustainable.
The outcome of his reconstruction aside, Woods is almost
certainly thinking beyond himself and considering something greater than golf
and 19 majors: his personal legacy.
While his obsessive focus on golf is fundamental to his greatness,
perhaps for the first time Woods understands that personal failings are a lot
more significant than missing a three-foot putt and losing a major. As we know, golf is small; life is big. Welcome to every man’s world, Tiger.
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