Filed under: Golf & Tennis
Forgive me for being melodramatic, but Tiger Woods has come back to golf as a different man since his scandal last fall. Rather than the name "Woods" being synonymous with excellence, Tiger is earning his name by hitting balls into the woods. His golf game appears to be as weak and convoluted as his personal life, which makes me wonder if the Tiger Woods era is effectively over.
This week at the Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger shot a terrible 74 on the second day, putting himself in 72nd place. There are many who speculate that Woods may lose his stranglehold on the world No. 1 spot and possibly not even qualify for the Ryder Cup. Superman has become Clark Kent, and he's swallowed enough Kryptonite to keep himself from ever being great again.
Woods reminds us that an outstanding man must remain a focused and humble man. Like so many famous athletes and wealthy men before him, Woods allowed the spoils of fame to make him distracted and undisciplined. He started his career as hungry as a starving homeless person, but when things started to go well, he eventually found himself engaging in the kind of gluttony that destroys lives. Like the famous character Dorian Gray (who is given access to everything he wanted, but finds out it wasn't a good thing), Tiger had the world at his feet, and he soon learned that embracing the spoils of this world without moderation led to the deterioration of his very soul.
I am not sure if Tiger is finding himself again, but I wonder what the next chapter of his life is going to look like. I strongly suspect that this might be the last of the great Tiger Woods for many of us. Tiger has transformed himself into just another pretty good golfer.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.