Tiger Woods Revisited

Tiger Woods is currently on a slippery slope. The “greatest golfer of all time” is in danger of becoming an asterisk within a parentheses. This self-professed Buddhist is doing things that no true Buddhist or any spiritually evolved person would do. Spitting on greens. Playing mind games during competition with Sergio Garcia. Throwing clubs. Ignoring fans. Rejecting TV interviews. Not trying when the tournament seems lost. Behavior unbecoming of a professional athlete…or of a conscious human being. His personal life is in an apparent shambles, perpetrator of a volatile and embarrassing sex scandal which has led to estrangement, divorce, and child custody discomfort for his kids. “I wasn’t thinking,” he said after apologizing for the spitting incidents, which led to a fine by the European Tour. Swing change or no, winning or losing, that about sums up Tiger Woods these days. A conscious human being of 35 years does think, and thinks clearly with sensitivity to the lives of others. Woods had better training than this, I’m sure. His parents were and are dedicated, caring, and considerate people. Woods is dishonoring them by such behavior.

Yes, he has done some good things with his millions. The Tiger Woods Foundation is an excellent example of the good money can manifest. His work with children is beyond reproach. But he dishonors the Foundation and the children by his puerile behavior. Woods has a responsibility to his fans, these children that he helps, his sponsors, the Foundation, and to golf itself. Golf is an honorable sport. It is built on etiquette, fair play, honesty, civility, courtesy, companionship, and a tip of the hat, a smile, and a handshake at round’s end. Garcia spitting in the hole after a bad putt and Woods spitting on the greens in Dubai are about as opposite of the ideals of golf as you can get.

Not only wasn’t Woods thinking but he wasn’t considering the golfer behind him, and I think this is a key element to the game. You must take into account not only your game but the games of every other golfer on the course.  In other words, how does your play affect the play of all others? Of course, there is the obvious: being careful not to step in another’s line on the green; making sure no one is in your intended line of drive or approach shot; and not talking when a playing partner is about to swing. But how about things that are not “nots” but “do’s” like do repair divots and ball marks, and do replace the pin before you leave the green, and do  keep up with the pace of play.

Most of these are not in the rule book, but are just plain common sense put into action. They involve thinking about the other guy while concentrating on your own game. That’s one of the major challenges facing the golfer. It’s a game that is intensely individual, involving tremendous concentrating and self absorption, but that is played on a playing field that many others occupy at the same time.

What’s most annoying for me, and I think for many of us, is to be ignored and disregarded. I’d rather be yelled at or cursed than have someone talking while I’m swinging, or walking up ahead while I’m preparing for my shot, or a playing partner hitting out of turn, or the foursome in front putting like it was the Masters. At least when they’re balling me out, they know I’m alive. In life, I avoid self-absorbed people. On the course, I’m stuck with them. I choose my regular playing companions carefully and accordingly.

Tiger Woods, except for his Foundation, is a self-absorbed person whose karma finally caught up to him. He also comes across as condescending as he rarely speaks of his playing competitors’ accomplishments and only of his own missteps as the reason he lost. Again, he ignores the field as if he were the one and only star. There is an arrogance about him with his clipped answers and barely tolerant attitude towards the press. He approaches Jack’s record for majors, but he is no Jack Nicklaus, or Arnold Palmer, or Gary Player, or Watson, or Couples, and certainly is no Bobby Jones. Tiger Woods has made the purses what they are today, but he is not necessarily good for golf with respect to attracting more youngsters to the game. He is no role model, as Arnold Palmer was for me when he inspired me to take up the game in my early teens.

My wife thinks that Woods was using steroids around the time the Tour started drug testing, and had knee surgery at that time to avoid the tests and clear out the drugs from his system. I’ve doubted her suspicions but now am beginning to wonder. His body does look steroid induced. And his erratic, self indulgent behavior is similar to drug users, many of whom I’ve worked with over the years as a masters level mental health counselor. “I wasn’t thinking” could apply to steroid use as well, and, along with his obsession withW’s, makes steroid use a possibility. Also, my wife is a very wise and perceptive woman. Tiger Woods a steroid user? I’m just saying…

Whether Woods has gone that far overboard we may never know. But of what we know, this man has not followed through on his promise to be more respectful of the game. The man has been groomed for this game since he was a toddler–groomed by a father who was an honor to his country and to the game of golf. If for no other reason, Tiger Woods, conduct yourself as your father would have wished and guided. Smile more. Sign more autographs. Embellish your interviews a bit more. Compliment your adversaries. And, for golf’s sake, stop spitting on greens.