How the Tiger Woods story has affected me

Like a well-hit drive down the middle of the Stuart Highway, the Tiger Woods story keeps on rolling.
You would have to be living under a rock to have missed the action so I won’t go into details here. In fact, I have tried hard to steer away from much of the controversy, aiming to keep discussions to golf.
Initially, I tried to sit on the outer as none of the information we were hearing seemed all that credible but now it is an onslaught. The Tiger Woods outrun wife game has landed in my inbox more times than I’d care to put on my scorecard and it now outranks his other video game on a Google search.
I’ve heard many jokes (several quite funny) surrounding Tiger’s infidelity and as the token golf guy been asked the question many times at parties. In fact, it’s not even really a question. It just goes “Soooo, Tiger Woods!?”.
I’m never sure what to say and even if I did it would be some sort of incoherent, blabbering attempt to convey my own complete flabbergastation at the whole event. I realise flabbergastation is not even a word but it suits my feelings perfectly.
I have tried to answer with my thoughts and also managed to remind people no one has ever done the things he has on a golf course before but it is not only wearing thin but kills the conversation immediately. That is a good thing but I suppose but I do feel like I’m applying a small bandage to a very big cut.
Kind of like putting back-handed to solve some serious mental issues with the yips.
I have felt less and less need to put on my TW cap. I never used to wear it on the golf course but proudly wore it down the beach or popping around the corner for a coffee. Bringing golf to the masses so to speak. Now I just get sunburned and I’m hoping to get a new golf cap for Christmas. Maybe an AS, GO or ML one.
Stephanie Wie at Wie Under Par always has her finger on the latest Tiger news. She’s unearthed a nice little clip of Padraig Harrington’s reaction to it all on an Irish talk show. I play it here as it sums up everyone’s reaction perfectly. It is nice to know that even the great players on tour are equally baffled.

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5 thoughts on “How the Tiger Woods story has affected me

  • Some estimates say that William Shakespeare created over 40% of the words in the English language. Since Will was nobody special at the time, I think “flabbergastation” is an acceptable contribution. We fellow writers of the world thank you. (Note: This contribution is NOT tax-deductible.)

    As for Tiger… his verbal contributions of late seem limited to voicemails and such. This we could have done without.

    I’ve found myself in the same boat as you, Michael – trying to avoid more than passing references to the scandal. That’s easier for me than for many golf bloggers, since my blog is more focused on game improvement. Still, it’s gotten harder and harder to ignore. I mean, it’s reached such a point of ridicularity (that’s my contribution) that it would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad.

    Maybe the best we can say right now is just that “it is what it is.” There is always somebody wearing a sign that says, “The end of the world is nigh!” and they’re always wrong. I suspect they’ll be wrong again, where golf is concerned.

    The post-apocalyptic world of Tiger Woods won’t be the same, of course. But I’m willing to just ride things out and see what we get. There are larger issues here; maybe in time they’ll be recognized.

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  • You know, at the end of the day my kids wouldn’t have a clue about the storm that’s been circling Tiger for the last few months. As far as they’re concerned, he’s still the guy who beats everyone else at golf.

    If there’s one great thing that could come out of all of this, it’s that nobody’s perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone needs to learn from them to become a better person and move on.

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  • I share your pain when it comes to trying to avoid getting on the bandwagon of Tiger bashing. I honestly believe he’s got some serious personal issues to deal with (I know…BIG revelation) but at the same time I believe he is actually able to compartmentalize different parts of his life in his brain…I mean, after all, he DID win all those tournaments while carrying on like we now know he did and dealing with a struggling marriage and the death of his dad…As I think Geoff Ogilvy once said, “Everything seems to make him better”…Biggest test yet however.Biggest by far

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  • Very torn on this issue, made the trek down from Sydney to Melbourne ,which is a big expense when you got a young family.

    Witnessed greatness,bought a TW cap as a keepsake, wrote about it on my blog, and for that one week everyone knew I had seen “Tiger Woods”

    Now, I continue to wear the cap but get a funny looks, someone also mentioned the other day that I should make note on my blog that the story was written before the scandal broke.

    Funny, its like its Ok that I wrote it before I new about the scandal? even though I wrote about his ability to focus on the golfcourse.

    I don’t know what to think now?? I dont like what he has done, but for those couple of days last november, it was really special to witness.

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  • You’re absolutely right Greg. I’ve had a similar reaction. Almost like people asking me if I was ashamed of his golf before the scandal.

    One thing is for certain though: when/if he comes back it is going to be all about the golf now. There is nothing left but his golfing abilities and that will be the main focus.

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