A Tiger by the tale

An interesting situation is playing out at the U.S. Open, which this weekend will be contested in all the grandeur of Pebble Beach.

There might be more than a few “pebbles” in the path of Tiger Woods, who cruised to a historic win the last time the open was contested on the Monterrey Peninsula.

Maybe more like a Rocky Road.

Woods held his first press briefing yesterday. Guess what came up? Hard to believe Woods was surprised. Even harder to believe he was peeved.

Mark Reason of the London Telegraph asked, if you will pardon the pun, a fairly “reason-able” question. He wanted to know if Tiger’s reached any kind of resolution with his wife, Elin. Tiger, you might remember, has been living under a cloud since his life imploded last Thanksgiving under a non-stop series of scandals involving myriad marital infidelities.

Tiger proved true to his stripes. The man who maybe more than any other athlete covets control, offered the following terse response.

“That’s none of your business.”

Actually, I find it a very interesting response. I’m not so sure I disagree with him, which you might find odd considering what I do for a living.

But here’s what I really think. U.S. Open weekend is one of those very special times in sports, in part because it rolls around every year at the same time. It’s always held on Father’s Day weekend.

There would be something strangely odd should Tiger regain his game and win this tournament on a historic course where always plays well.

What kind of Father’s Day lesson would that provide?

For me, a golf nut and one-time Tiger fanatic, it will provide a different kind of lesson.

The truth is I don’t care what Tiger does anymore. I don’t care if he plays well. His appearance on the leaderboard on Sunday – complete with the requisite red shirt – used to insure high drama, and even higher ratings.

When Tiger was on the lead Sunday afternoon, it was almost impossible to look away.

For most of the past year, it has been nearly impossible to look away for entirely different reasons. Kind of like a car wreck.

Now I wish Tiger this. Nothing.

I don’t care if he plays well. I don’t care if he makes the cut. I don’t care about his personal life.

To me, Tiger Woods is now something I once thought impossible.

Just another golfer. Another disgraced athlete. Another celebrity ground up in our TMZ-besotted world.

I can’t bring myself to root for him this weekend. Not on Sunday. At least not yet. Maybe that says more about me than him.

The truth is I used to be the guy’s biggest fan. I always wanted him to win, especially at the Masters and the U.S. Open. But not this year. Not on Father’s Day.

Keep the red shirt in the closet, Tiger.

This is now Tiger’s tale. He doesn’t want to talk about it. I can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t want to talk about it either. But if he thinks it’s going away because he brushes off questions about it, he’s wrong.

He used to be Tiger Woods, the most dominating, mesmerizing athlete in the world. Maybe the most recognizable face on the globe.

He might still be, for all the wrong reasons.

Comments

Dannytheman said…
We agree completely!!

Do you think he is like Sampson without his hair now? His lack of sex is making him weak?