The Tiger in the Woods

Tiger never cheated. Possibly the greatest golfer the sport has ever seen, he did not fall from grace due to—like so many sportsmen before him—a desire to win by any means, regardless of the possible consequences. No, Tiger Woods was taken down because his life did not match his public image.

At the turn of the century, as the world accelerated into a new dawn and the future of 60s television was now the present, Tiger Woods was almost superhuman. A person of colour, playing and dominating a game that had formerly been the preserve of the male, white, elite; Woods made golf an everyman sport.

An erudite, engaging presence in front of the camera, with his acceptable complexion—he is of mixed heritage, his father Earl, was African-American and his mother, Kultida, is Thai—Woods was the perfect symbol for the American dream, showing that regardless of background, of colour, you can make it, in any field, in America.

His talent and image made him, in the early noughties, the highest paid sportsperson on the planet. Though Woods dominated on the circuit, prize money only made up a small percentage of his earnings. It was his clean-cut image that has earned him a fortune since turning professional in 1996.

With multiple sponsors—lesser-known ones such as Upper Deck and TaylorMade, and well on known brands like Nike and Rolex—Woods has made the vast majority of his fortune through endorsements.

A serial winner, he has won every major honour in the sport, most of them multiple times. It cannot be overstated how much of an impact on the sport of golf Woods had.

It was not a coincidence that Nike chose to use the tagline, "I am Tiger," in one of their ad campaigns, showing children from every ethnic background and of both sexes, holding golf clubs or looking confidently into the camera as they said, "I am Tiger."

The problem with having or seeming to have everything is people want to see you fail. Not only did Tiger have the looks, talent, respect, and money, but he also appeared to have the dream spouse. Elin Nordegren was a Swedish former model and had been an au pair to Swedish golfer, Jesper Parnevik, who would introduce the two to one another in 2001.

They married in 2004, and by 2009, were a picture perfect family, having had two children—a girl and then a boy. By the end of 2009, cracks began to appear in the perfection. Woods crashed his Cadillac SUV just outside of his home.

Varying reports came out after the crash. Some said he and Elin had been arguing. Others speculated as to why she had been carrying a golf club when she went out to the car, her explanation of needing to smash the rear window to free him from the SUV not quite ringing true.

Rumours and reports of Woods’ infidelity began to surface. That a famous person should be indiscreet, sexually, is hardly a story. After all, history is littered with highly regarded, famous men whose heads were turned by the promise of sexual gratification. What made Tiger’s indiscretions newsworthy was the scale.

It was alleged that he had extramarital affairs with 120 women. The affairs, the entire number, happened in the five years he had been married. These revelations destroyed Woods’ image of a clean-living, family man. It affected not only his marital life, but also his professional one.

Sponsors ended their association with him and, golf being a game of mental focus, his game suffered. Tiger, who had battled through knee pain to win tournaments and seemed from another planet when it came to the game of golf, was human.

Along with his marital issues, his body began to fail as well. Having already had several operations on his left knee in 2008, over the decade following his fall from grace, his back would prove to be a problem.

From being the dominant force in the sport and having the record for having held the number one ranking for the longest time, Tiger, at one point found himself ranked outside the top 1,000 at 1,005th place in the world rankings in 2017.

With an estimated fortune of over $750 million, Woods did or does not need to play golf ever again. Seemingly a shadow of the player who swept all before him, no one would begrudge him if he had decided to retire and open a harem.

He did not want to be remembered like that. Not for the scandal and an ignominious fall from grace. Tiger kept on playing. Even as his body—his back—seemed to be telling him it was time to take up residence on the 19th hole, requiring four operations so as he could keep playing. Displaying a bloody-mindedness that borders on the psychotic, he kept on playing.

Sunday, April 14th, 2019, and the Tiger roared again. 11 years after his last Masters triumph, Woods was winning big again. He was relevant in his sport once more. Though his renaissance may not last long, in terms of a legacy, this win was his most important.

People will always remember the bad stuff. That is just the nature of media and western society, people feel better knowing even the best, the greatest, can fail. The bigger the fail, the greater the smugness of those who live in safe mediocrity. You cannot fail if you do not try.

Everyone thinks that they try, but that is not true. Very few do things to an extremely high standard. Adequate is generally considered good enough in most minds, even if they believe they are going above and beyond. That is why greatness stands out. Those that do great, who go above and beyond the normal standards. They push to be better, even when they are already considered the best.

Tiger Woods was already a legend in his own lifetime. He had broken most of golf’s long-standing records, changed the way the game was viewed, and introduced the game to a whole section of people who had always thought it was not for them.

When his fall happened, publicly and humiliatingly, he got back up and started swinging. He refuses to be defined by his failures, that is why Tiger’s Masters triumph, in Augusta in April 2019, was—and will probably always be—his greatest.