Desire to remain relevant is understandable, but a glance at his behavioural pattern casts doubt on his PGA Tour and Ryder Cup involvement
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t is a scene that has become more extraordinary with the passing of time. Plenty of sportspeople have been guilty of or admitted to extramarital capers. Only Tiger Woods appeared live on television, in front of a hand-picked audience, to deliver a 14-minute mea culpa on his transgressions.
American golf executives in their perfectly ironed slacks stood in sombre mood as Woods laid bare his “personal sins”. The venue, hilariously, was the home of the PGA Tour. Woods had no need to go into tawdry detail about his antics; the tabloid media had done that for him. “I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply,” said Woods. Sixteen years on from that speech, it is worth pondering whether much has changed.
Two episodes over the past week have exposed the new, grim normal for Woods. TGL has been a welcome and fun addition to Woods’s sport as an indoor simulator experience that the world’s leading players seem to enjoy. As Woods appeared – sweating, face bloated – on Tuesday night’s staging of the golf league, it was astonishingly billed as a Masters test run. One of the greatest golfers of all time, who would have disregarded indoor golf as a pointless gimmick when in his pomp, was supposedly preparing for the rigours of Augusta National by whacking balls into a giant screen. The coverage was absurd.
