Tiger Woods puts U.S. Open first with Elin hospitalized because that's the price of greatness
Anyone questioning Tiger Woods decision to play the U.S. Open with his wife Elin in the hospital with child bearing complications all four days of the tournament does not get it. Of course, Tiger played.
That’s why he’s Tiger Woods and one of the countless reasons you’re not. You would have been at your wife’s side the entire time, anxiously consulting with the doctors? Good for you. Someone with that attitude never would have been staring down Jack Nicklaus’ majors record in the first place.
People love to celebrate greatness. As long as they don’t have to admit what greatness takes. Here’s what it requires: Fighting for one of the top trophies in golf while your wife fights to make sure everything’s all right with your baby in a hospital states away.
Greatness isn’t always pretty. It’s not always fit for a Hallmark movie of the week. You’re surprised Tiger chose the quest for major win No. 13 over a hospital vigil? You’re a fool who has no clue how completely driven Woods is to reach the historic goals his always-planning Green Beret father helped set out for him.
Newsflash: Tiger Woods is wired different than you and I.
As noted in this space earlier, Tiger Woods handled his baby’s birth with class rather than Phil Mickelson crass. Tiger could have easily turned the U.S. Open into a story about him heroically soldiering on while his wife was in the hospital.
That would have overshadowed every other golfer in the field, anything else at Oakmont at all completely. Woods refused to play that card, something that even other greats like Michael Jordan never could have resisted. Jordan would kill to have been able to add this bit of legend to his supposed flu game in Utah.
Tiger kept it quiet. He’s the rare other worldly talent who seems self aware enough to realize the heavy price that greatness comes with. You get the idea that Tiger isn’t 100 percent proud of being away from Elin. His drive would not it play out any other way though.
Even the greats don’t always sleep well with what greatness pushes them to do.
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11 comments
By the way, remember when Philly Mick's wife was sick as hell (nearly died during childbirth with the boy, who also struggled)? Phil-Boy said nothing about it, proving that he, too, can shoulder the price of greatness. Maybe you ought to revisit the tale of Philly Mich. I was more put off by the throwing of the baseball in the parking lot than the news of impending childrbirth.
Chris Baldwin has no wife.
Chris Baldwin has no children.
Chris Balwin sucks at golf.
I have a wife, 3 children and a single digit handicap. Which is just enough to know that you are so completely full of crap it's unbelievable.
I know you think EVERYTING Tiger Woods does is wonderful but your reasoning behind this blind love is sickening.
homosexual groupie. The accolades are a
little too enthusiastic.
Again, he's Tiger Woods. Not Ron Mon.
Ron Mon equals understandably forever grateful that a female even graced him with a second glance, let alone considered letting him sweep out her garage.
Tiger Woods ... a tad more successful with the ladies.
Anyway, no one would wear the pants in my family but me. Of course, I am the man.
Judge: I recruit my army from the off-religions.
I practice a faith long-abandoned.
He has now. In ten years you will remember that and not who won it. By the way, where were the posed "doting father" shots of Phil and his kids? Isn't a little "crass" to release the pictures to the press, just so we all can know how much he cares? I guess I hadn't heard the public outcry and demand for pictures of Tiger the dad.
Everyone is far too liberal about these matters nowadays. It's as if one's family has to be an open book, as if you just have to let it all hang out. It also strikes me as a bit self-centered; it's like the guy who insists on showing you interminable footage of home movies, not realizing that not everyone is intensely interesting in the minutiae of his family life.
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