Tiger Lost Me At The Masters!

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At first, I was reluctant to embrace Tiger Woods.  I was always afraid that my childhood golf heroes, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus would be diminished by Tiger's prowess on the golf course.  Tiger was breaking all their records and chasing after Jack's major record.  At some point though, I climbed aboard the Tiger Train and was supportive of his play and his quest for Jack's record. 

His game was incredible.  His swing was a thing of beauty.  He could do anything on a golf course and if he chose to win, he won.  Sunday golf was all about Tiger and the only surprise week-in and week-out would be who he would defeat to take home the prize.  The PGA was enjoying ratings the likes of which had never seen when Tiger was playing on the weekend.  All was great with golf. 

Then the bottom fell out for Tiger with all the off the course issues.  Still, I didn't forsake him as all men are flawed in significant ways.  Although I wasn't supportive of Tiger's off the course problems, I understood them.  Everyone makes mistakes and high-profile superstars are not exempt from making them.  As most people did, I put all the personal stuff aside and only wished him well as he struggled to put his life back together. 

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Only a few weeks back, I was delighted when he won on the tour again.  Finally.  All of a sudden, Tiger was once again favored to win a major golf championship.  It was a pretty exciting week going into the Masters knowing that Tiger not only would be competitive but had a better than average shot of winning another major championship.  The fervor leading up to Thursday's opening round was pretty exciting. 

Opening day on Thursday saw no major miscues on Tiger's part coming into the clubhouse at even par.  Certainly an acceptable start.  Friday, his game fell apart.  "Certainly, I'm frustrated at times and I apologize if I offended anybody by that," Woods said.  "But I've hit some bad shots and it's certainly frustrating at times not hitting the ball where you need to hit it." 

Tiger's apology was for his club kicking incident on Friday when a shot didn't go where he wanted it to.  Friday was the day when I decided I was no longer in Tiger's corner.  Kicking a club in disgust at Augusta is not something anyone is accustomed to seeing.  There have been great players who have had far worse experiences at Amen Corner or at the finishing holes and did not kick clubs, throw clubs or even utter obscenities.  His behavior on Friday was less than acceptable and deserved a more sincere apology than he offered.

More often than not we cut huge breaks to our heroes and superstars because they thrill us with their grand performance on the athletic field or movie screen.  I am unwilling at this point to be supportive of his childlike behavior.  It's one thing for the Sunday golfer or duffer to throw or kick a club.  It's an entirely different matter for Tiger Woods.  I'm sorry but you just don't kick a golf club at The Masters. 

Jack's place is once again elevated in my mind.  Jack Nicklaus was not only a champion but a class act on the golf course.  Maybe Tiger will eclipse Jack's major wins record, perhaps not.  What Tiger will never be able to attain is the stature that Jack brought to the game.