Recently over the past year and a half or so people have been wondering, "what is the deal with Tiger Woods?" He has won his tournaments sure, but since the 2008 US Open, he hasn't won a major and he choked away the PGA Tour this year which is soemthing Tiger NEVER does. What could possibly be the difference in Tiger over this time period? Well, I submit that Tigers infidelity had gotten out of hand, he knew it, but was powerless to stop it, and began to affect all facets of his life including his golf game.
You look back at him during the play over the last year or two and it is quite obvious, he is struggling with something. We have all been so accustomed to what we "know" of Tiger everyone just assumed the same thing. "Tiger is just so competitive he is not happy even if he is doing better than everyone, if he's not meeting his own standards he is not happy." Recent events have made The Jeff Report wonder if maybe the weight of his infidelity had been increasingly consuming his mental capacity over the last couple of years. It is apparent to this blogger that Tiger knew everything was spinning out of control, but he was in so deep now there was no way for him to stop it.
Watching Tiger play golf over his career one thing always struck me that never really seemed to get national attention. The man clearly has a temper. When he hits a bad shot he viciously will slam his club down, and the scowl on his face makes him look as though he will literally eat a small puppy if he hits another bad shot. After slamming his club he proceeds to curse. I was always told never to use coarse language or throw clubs on the golf course. Golf is a gentlemen's game and gentlemen don't do that. Now, I will admit, I have slammed (or even thrown) a club or two in my day and a few cuss words have been uttered on the course. However, Tiger, unlike myself, has legions of fans, plenty of which are kids who are greatly influenced by how he golfs. His success has opened up the game of golf to an entire new world of golfers and they are learning these habits from him. What does all this tell us? Well it tells us that Tiger has very little self restraint. For someone who markets himself so much, he is so brazenly not careful about how he presents himself when in the public eye at tournaments. If he can't control this, which could have an affect on how much money he makes, how can we expect him to control certain aspects of his private life? We can't, is the answer.
While some of his fans may have not wanted to believe it, all Tiger cares about is golf. This means that is probably not a good family man and he is probably not a good friend, etc. He is concerned with getting better and beating Jack Nicklaus. This situation reminds me of the scene in Ray where Ray Charles is arguing with his wife and she says to him that if he doesn't get off the drugs and stay out of trouble they are gonna take the most important thing from him "not me," she says "not your children or any of that, your music." Charles' wife finally understood that her family, herself and everything else in this world was secondary to his music. That was his love. That is how Tiger is with golf, he loves it more than anything. Now with his "leave of absence" what he loves most has been taken from him. This is the only possible thing that could be a wake up call for him.
Sometimes there are athletes that are truly in love with their wives but are just on the road too much and can't handle the temptation. Sometimes their wives truly love them back and just accept this fact and that is why they stay with these men. Perhaps Tiger and Elin really love each other they will make it through as Ray Charles did with his wife. All signs point to that not happening.
What these events have shown us is that Tiger Woods is human. I will never make excuses nor will I justify any behavior like this for any man. All I would ever ask, especially from such a public figure, is they take responsibility for their actions. I do not feel Tiger has done that to satisfy me yet. I imagine in time he will. I further imagine that when Tiger comes back the rest of the golfing world will need to look out. Tiger will come back with a new resolve, with a greater focus, and perhaps a greater perspective that will make him the scariest athlete on the planet. The greatest ever (debatable) has been humbled beyond belief and my bet is, he will correct his ways and come back better than ever. Then again, I could be very wrong...
You look back at him during the play over the last year or two and it is quite obvious, he is struggling with something. We have all been so accustomed to what we "know" of Tiger everyone just assumed the same thing. "Tiger is just so competitive he is not happy even if he is doing better than everyone, if he's not meeting his own standards he is not happy." Recent events have made The Jeff Report wonder if maybe the weight of his infidelity had been increasingly consuming his mental capacity over the last couple of years. It is apparent to this blogger that Tiger knew everything was spinning out of control, but he was in so deep now there was no way for him to stop it.
Watching Tiger play golf over his career one thing always struck me that never really seemed to get national attention. The man clearly has a temper. When he hits a bad shot he viciously will slam his club down, and the scowl on his face makes him look as though he will literally eat a small puppy if he hits another bad shot. After slamming his club he proceeds to curse. I was always told never to use coarse language or throw clubs on the golf course. Golf is a gentlemen's game and gentlemen don't do that. Now, I will admit, I have slammed (or even thrown) a club or two in my day and a few cuss words have been uttered on the course. However, Tiger, unlike myself, has legions of fans, plenty of which are kids who are greatly influenced by how he golfs. His success has opened up the game of golf to an entire new world of golfers and they are learning these habits from him. What does all this tell us? Well it tells us that Tiger has very little self restraint. For someone who markets himself so much, he is so brazenly not careful about how he presents himself when in the public eye at tournaments. If he can't control this, which could have an affect on how much money he makes, how can we expect him to control certain aspects of his private life? We can't, is the answer.
While some of his fans may have not wanted to believe it, all Tiger cares about is golf. This means that is probably not a good family man and he is probably not a good friend, etc. He is concerned with getting better and beating Jack Nicklaus. This situation reminds me of the scene in Ray where Ray Charles is arguing with his wife and she says to him that if he doesn't get off the drugs and stay out of trouble they are gonna take the most important thing from him "not me," she says "not your children or any of that, your music." Charles' wife finally understood that her family, herself and everything else in this world was secondary to his music. That was his love. That is how Tiger is with golf, he loves it more than anything. Now with his "leave of absence" what he loves most has been taken from him. This is the only possible thing that could be a wake up call for him.
Sometimes there are athletes that are truly in love with their wives but are just on the road too much and can't handle the temptation. Sometimes their wives truly love them back and just accept this fact and that is why they stay with these men. Perhaps Tiger and Elin really love each other they will make it through as Ray Charles did with his wife. All signs point to that not happening.
What these events have shown us is that Tiger Woods is human. I will never make excuses nor will I justify any behavior like this for any man. All I would ever ask, especially from such a public figure, is they take responsibility for their actions. I do not feel Tiger has done that to satisfy me yet. I imagine in time he will. I further imagine that when Tiger comes back the rest of the golfing world will need to look out. Tiger will come back with a new resolve, with a greater focus, and perhaps a greater perspective that will make him the scariest athlete on the planet. The greatest ever (debatable) has been humbled beyond belief and my bet is, he will correct his ways and come back better than ever. Then again, I could be very wrong...
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