Tiger doesn’t deserve the scorn directed at him — he is a true great
WHY the lack of humanity for Tiger Woods? Why, when he is injured or playing poorly, do his army of critics feel that the tone has to be accusatory instead of sympathetic?
Perhaps it is because he has treated the media with such disdain over the years, although does that really excuse kicking a man when he’s down? Grow up.
Or then, maybe it is because there exists a notion in which Woods was the recipient of gifts from God which were meant to be enjoyed by us all, and that, as a result, we have every right to be annoyed at him for daring to waste these precious talents?
If that is true, then it is utter nonsense. If one man made the most of what he was given it is Tiger Woods.
Woods broke down barriers to become one of the game’s greatestever players, conquering racism and elitism in his rise to the top.
Woods broke records which everybody considered unbreakable and did so with an aura that dragged a new audience to the game.
He made no secret of his mission to overhaul Jack Nicklaus’s record haul of 18 majors, even though it would have been easier to reject this as an obsession and so lower the expectation.
But to his critics he changed the perfect swing, and, with his desire to be a “proper athlete”, destroyed himself in the gym.
Granted, they may have grounds in their arguments — but so what? It is his life and their finger of condemnation is wholly wrong.
Woods didn’t do any of this intentionally to make himself worse. Woods spent hour after hour on the weights because he thought it would improve his game. It would have been easier to stay sitting on the sofa.
Woods ripped up two techniques that had brought him millions because he thought it would improve his game. It would have been easier to stay swinging the same way.
None of us can imagine what it is like to be that good and want to get better. That is what made Woods so good in the first place.
We should remember that when we are watching him hobbling off in agony because of a back injury or whatever.
We should remember that his work ethic has been second to none and that he is not someone who has thrown away those God-given skills.
We should reserve our scorn for those who have and are currently doing so. There are plenty of them around, you know.
One of the other greats of the game, Jack Nicklaus, believes that Rory McIlroy can go on to win 15 to 20 majors.
Nicklaus is not in the habit of making grand pronouncements, so his spectacular forecast for McIlroy should not be ignored, especially as he holds the record with 18 majors.
“Rory is an unbelievable talent,” Nicklaus told ESPN. “I think Rory has an opportunity to win 15 or 20 majors or whatever he wants to do if he wants to keep playing.”
Earlier in the week McIlroy said he will defend his Australian Open title, crediting his win last year in Sydney as the launch-pad for a return to form.
The Northern Irishman overhauled crowd favourite and fierce rival Adam Scott for victory last November — his first win in more than 12 months.
He has since stormed through the rankings to supplant Scott at the top after clinching the WGC Bridgestone Invitational crown last Sunday.
The 25-year-old three-time major champion said he was relishing another crack at the Australian title, from November 27 to 30. — ©