A Few of the Finer Things - May 2019

Tiger

Watching the 2019 Master’s on TV I could not stop reminiscing about our amazing trip there last year (Finer Things - May 2018). The six of us who went had ongoing text messages and a lot of laughs. As the tournament progressed we got into an interesting discussion about Tiger Woods…some were rooting for him, others wanted him to fall apart and some (like me) were somewhere in the middle. I think golf is far more exciting when Tiger is in contention especially in one of the major tournaments; however, I like seeing the younger players rise up to the challenge of going against one of the true legends of the game (and beating him)—many of these players grew up idolizing Tiger’s dominance over professional golf from 1997-2008.

There were several really good articles written about Tiger after he completed his historic victory. Peter King (a football reporter who I read regularly) had the following to say in his Monday morning column:

“Amazing what Tiger Woods accomplished Sunday, winning his first major in 11 years, winning his first major ever after trailing entering the final 18 holes, winning the Masters by a stroke after four debilitating back surgeries from 2014-17 that were so physically taxing that good friend Notah Begay recalled Sunday he once had to virtually carry Woods to his car in his back-pain period so he could pick up his kids at school. Begay had to drive. The human body is an amazing vehicle.

But what I found myself thinking as I watched Sunday—and I watched it all, though I’m as casual a golf fan as there is—is that it is so interesting, this capacity we have in America for forgiveness. Remember nine-and-a-half years ago, when the stories of Woods’ seedy infidelity broke? And man, they were seedy. He was as low as he could be. His wife Elin kicked him out and divorced him. He was the biggest endorser of any athlete in the country, and it wasn’t even close, and AT&T, General Motors and Gatorade dropped him. ‘I was foolish,’ he said, totally humbled and absolutely tarnished.

And did you see the scene Sunday? The chants for Tiger, the love for Tiger, the fawning interviews of Tiger, the social-media praise of Tiger across the spectrum of sports (Brady, Serena, Kareem). Overall, I think it’s a very good thing that a man can be as low as an inchworm, and work his way back through personal and physical struggles, and he can make it back. I have no idea what his personal life is like, but at least he’s not in the headlines for the wrong reasons anymore. It’s a cool thing, that he worked his way back.”

I think Peter said what one of my texting group was trying to say—he wasn’t defending Tiger’s past transgressions—he was saying that it is cool to watch someone go from the lowest of lows to quite a high.

My favorite article about the victory came from Dan Wetzel, who is one of my favorite writers. He wrote about the image of Tiger hugging his son, Charlie, in the same spot that he hugged his own father when he first won the Master’s in 1997. The summation at the end is brilliant writing…very true words!

Wetzel - One Picture Sums up the Meaning

– Gary Weiss, May 2019