As the PGA golf season gets underway, there is one name in the back of everyone’s mind and that name is Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods has gone through a media shitstorm over the course of the past few months, during which his prowess as perhaps the greatest golf player of all time has become but a side note to his prowess for getting a little grade A trim on the side. Among all the betting odds on the various facets of Tiger’s life, the one that is garnering the most attention in many sportsbooks right now is whether Woods will be playing in the USA Masters.
Bettors from all over the world have been putting money down on this, and recently, William Hill slashed his Tiger odds of playing in the event from 6/4 to 1/4 , a significant change. Read more.
Here’s my take on the whole thing… We all obviously don’t know Tiger as well as we thought he did, which just goes to show you that things are never as they seem particularly the way they are portrayed in the media. But there is one thing that is undeniable about Tiger Woods, and that is his competitive spirit. It’s fair to say that Tiger Woods is one of the most competitive people on this planet, you have to be to play and what’s more, win on a broken leg. Yes, he’s going through some shit, and yes he’s lost a ton of sponsorships and yes his popularity and spirit may be broken, but he’s still Tiger Woods. And Tiger Woods, before anyone knew Tiger Woods, was a golf player. Typically what happens when everything goes to shit is a person reverts back to what they know and do best, for Tiger Woods, that’s shitkicking on the lynx. He’s not the first athlete to be a yard sale in the media eye. Look at what happened to Kobe Bryant and the alleged sexual assault charge. That was messy, but did it stop Kobe? 81 points, an MVP and a championship later, the answer is no.
I expect the same for Tiger. I expect that he’ll play in the Masters at Augusta and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he won the damn thing. Let’s not forget, the man is a champion, nobody can take that away from him. The only question is will he subject himself to the media circus that is likely to follow him upon his return. Things have died down now, but as soon as he resurfaces the media melting pot will start warming up again for Tiger Stew. Perhaps he’ll take it as challenge, albeit his biggest challenge yet. Call me crazy, but I tend to think a guy like Tiger secretly relishes the opportunity to go up against the world, against all odds, on the biggest stage and silence all his critics. They have a word for that, it’s called redemption.
