Why I Will Not Write About Tiger Woods

He might be a sitting duck for some writers. Perhaps he represents the tough guy, the bully, the cool kid that you/we/I always wanted to topple in grade/middle/high school (please don’t say ‘life’ here…you need to move on!) Despite the way he moves to the golf course, along the golf course, from the golf course, he is a wounded soul, so I won’t write about him.

You might be tempted to confuse the term ‘wounded’ with empathy. I suppose that I do feel some empathy for any suffering creature; the amount is measured by a number of factors. I won’t get into the littany of factors here, however…read my forthcoming book on psychology (it has no publisher nor title, but it will be here soon.) The one factor that litigates my enthusiasm for empathy is responsibility; if the suffering creature was responsible for its own situation, my empathy decreases…do the math.

I have a list of reasons why I will not write about Tiger Woods. If you’ve arrived for the short read, you’re two paragraphs in, starting the third, and still have zero idea of the premise of this piece. I’ll put you out of your misery and allow you to move on…here’s the list:

• He was in the midst of recovery and rehab from serious leg injuries;
• He was physically injured in an altercation;
• He may have a divorce;
• He lost a number of sponsors;
• His hidden persona was laid bare for all to see;
• His ego was assaulted;

There you have it:  the list. If you wish to move on, by all means, click away. If you might like a bit of introspection, read on.

Remember that Tiger took a big hit in 2008 with the crunchy leg and the ruptured knee (my medical terms and diagnoses, consult Gray’s big book for proper terminology.) We’ve seen Ernie Els win a few tourneys this year on the PGA Tour, roughly four years after he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Tiger underwent twice as much surgery, twice as much rehab smashed into a much briefer period of time. It’s safe to say that he just might need another couple years to return to form from the leg injuries alone.

Depending on whom you believe, a little or a lot happened to Tiger Woods that November evening of 2009. He was in and out of consciousness at the scene of the accident. More physical injury, more recovery time. Prisoners might serve concurrent sentences for crimes, but there is no documentation that concurrent rehabilitative programs go any easier.

Like many, Tiger has known marital separation…Earl Woods was married twice during his own life, ending one marriage and then marrying the woman who would bear Tiger. I have yet to meet the individual who enters a union with the solitary goal of getting out. Ergo, I suspect that Tiger wanted his marriage to work and that he looked forward to being a father and husband for years to come. The dissolution of any nuptials is crushing to one or both parties involved. If this is the case for Tiger, it’s one more psychological trauma that needs resolution and healing.

I don’t know the breakdown of Tiger Woods’ income schedule, but I gather that the hits he took from the lost sponsors will matter down the road. I cannot imagine losing ANY percentage of my income, not being a mogul who dabbles in a variety of undertakings. My suspicion is that, should Tiger return to any semblance of performance normalcy (i.e. winning tournaments), the lost sponsors should return to some semblance of performance compensation (or be replaced by others.)

Some (small) children agonize over the discovery of their secrets; so do some adults. It is quite challenging to go about daily activities with some protected pecadillo lurking, knocking, distracting you. From what we’ve read and heard, Tiger had a few of these that he attempted to conceal as he attempted to become the greatest of all time. I would find it hard to veil any clandestine tort for any period of time, without experiencing a drop in performance. Within a period of a few weeks, the curtains were opened and the room laid bare for all to see. Not an easy thing to manage.

Thus, the ego was throttled. The organised, realistic part (at least as Tiger saw it) was disorganized, made unrealistic. This attempted reality that had been constructed by the ego was revealed to be Oz, Future World, delusory. Now it is Tiger’s task to enter and function in a new reality.

For these reasons, I won’t write about Tiger Woods. I’ve no reason to. Given the nature of his career choice, I won’t have to.