January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Tiger is not superman
Tiger doesn't do things by half measure. He rewrote the amateur record books by winning three consecutive USGA Junior Championships, followed by three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships, practically making that record impossible to beat.
When he turned pro, he won enough money in the few events permitted to avoid the infamous Q-School process. While that has been done before and will be done again, it doesn't happen very often.
In slightly more than ten years on Tour, he has amassed 14 majors. He is third on the all-time win list, behind only Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead. He is by leaps and bounds the leader on the all-time money list. He is instantly recognizable by everyone everywhere.
His off-course exploits are equally impressive. He built a financial empire that brought him to within a pitching wedge of becoming the first athlete to become a billionaire. His business partners were the crème de la crème. He helped the under-privileged through his Foundation and he honoured the armed guards with his Washington D.C.-based tournament. He was as near to being Superman as Earth has ever seen and we would have been forgiven if we thought he was Clark Kent.
When it all came crashing down, his life unravelled in an equally impressive manner. Tiger didn't just sneak off with one woman as that would have been too un-Tiger like. Tiger somehow managed to amass a harem-like group of multiple women. Nor did Tiger sneak off into the corner of some dark room in some remote hotel as that too would have been un-Tiger like. No, he paraded his women for all to see, right there in plain view.
As it turns out, Tiger is not Superman. To the best of my knowledge, while Superman could be clean bowled by kryptonite, he did everything in his power to avoid the dreaded stuff. Tiger, on the other hand, chose to expose himself to trouble, thus bringing himself down, or at least that is what he claims. Despite his claims of acting alone, many attribute the influences of two of Tiger's closest friends as factors in his demise. Tiger's friends may have been his kryptonite.
The question is, of course, now what? Can Tiger turn his life around and put this particular part of it behind him? What about his wife and his children? Will they, and for that matter, will we, ever trust Tiger again?
Superman would solve the problem by flying at high speed counter-clockwise around planet Earth so as to turn the clock back. Since Tiger is not actually Superman, he will have to deal with his problems just as the rest of us do, going forward one day at a time.[[In-content Ad]]
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