The Spin Within

Once a dominant and intimidating force on the golf course, Tiger Woods continues to struggle in his return after a several month long hiatus from the PGA Tour. After each disappointing performance, the media asks what exactly is wrong with his game. Most of Tiger’s answers regarding his struggles have been predictably bland and not worth mentioning, except one comment after the Bridgestone Invitational.

After fielding one of many questions about his career-worst 18 over par performance that shook his confidence, Tiger remarked, “We’ve all been through periods…when you’ve hit it bad. Is your confidence not where it needs to be? Of course. I’ve been there. We’ve all been there.”

These words are coming from Tiger 2.0. This is supposed to be a new man; a man who is humbled, refocused and now “living a life of integrity.” Tiger wants us to empathize with him, realizing that hey, who hasn’t had a bad day on the course? He also wants us to realize that he is just as much flesh and bones as any other person. But to me, Tiger is just continuing to prove what a phony he really is.

In his infamous mea culpa back in February, Tiger attempted to explain his hedonistic behavior saying, “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt…I deserved to enjoy all of the temptations around me…Thanks to money and fame I didn’t have to go far to find them.”

Tiger is basically saying, “I messed up and I’m sorry, but at the same time you don’t realize my lifestyle and how hard it is to constantly say ‘no’.” Fair enough. There are very few people on this earth who have any idea of what life is like as Tiger Woods. He is the richest and most (in)famous athlete of our time and temptation must have been around every corner.

But I’m sorry, he can’t have it both ways. In February, Tiger was saying that having so much money and fame was a major reason for his mistakes, one that us as fans and critics, could never understand. Then when his game went south this summer, he claimed to be just like any other guy who swings a club—
there are good days and there are bad days. Tiger needs to realize that he can only be one or the other, but he cannot be both.

This is exactly why I find it is so hard to root for Tiger. For many, all of this will be forgotten when he starts sinking putts and winning Major championships again. But for me, I pay attention to what Tiger does on the course and says off of it. I simply cannot pull for someone who changes his persona to fit the situation. One day he is the global icon and phenomenal athlete who has problems we could never understand and then the next he is just like any one of us, struggling through a bad day.

It’s tough to know for sure, but Tiger is probably not as far away from regaining this lost confidence and winning tournaments like he used to do. However, I’ll be pulling for the numerous good guys of golf who don’t contradict how they come across and instead appear to be much more genuine.