Tiger Woods withdrew from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Friday morning before beginning second-round play because of a back spasm he began suffering after dinner Thursday night. …
He shot an opening-round 77 that included five bogeys and no birdies on Thursday. It was his worst score in 29 rounds at Emirates Golf Club, where he has won twice and finished in the top five on five occasions.
(ESPN, February 3, 2017)
This should come as no surprise. After all, this has been par for the course ever since tabloids exposed Tiger as a serial adulterer in 2009. All that’s left is for him to start blaming his balls for not finding the holes.
More to the point, though, in “For Tiger, Bad Play Causes ‘Pain’, Not Vice Versa,” August 7, 2014, I presaged his failure to make the cut last week and his withdrawal this week (no doubt to spare himself further humiliation). Here is an excerpt.
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Don’t be surprised if bad play forces Tiger to withdraw — again. For his foolish and withering pride is such that he sees more glory in stories about how heroically he played before pain forced him to quit, than in stories about why a healthy Tiger can’t even buy a win these days.
But all he needs now to shatter any hope of ever regaining his professional swagger is for his rehabbing, Olympic-skiing girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn, to dump him for not providing the [rehab and] redemptive inspiration she expected. Then, of course, there’s the simmering resentment he must be harboring as he watches the media hail Rory McIlroy the way they used to hail him.
In short, what we are witnessing folks is the proverbial warning:
Pride goeth before the fall.
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Sure enough …
Actually, I see no point in dignifying Tiger’s patently lame excuse with any further comment. Instead, I shall suffice to end with a few points:
- Rehabbed Vonn is back to her winning ways — complete with “inspiration” from her new boyfriend, an NFL assistant coach.
- Rehabbed Tiger seems intent on using public sympathy as a crutch for his poor play.
- This was a player whose predatory and invincible spirit psyched out his competitors even before his first swing. Now he’s one whose yips and feckless play evince so much pity, his competitors are throwing shade about him retiring.
- Tiger should retire and let his 14 majors seal his legacy as the second best player in the history of Golf, after Jack Nicklaus. If he doesn’t, he risks turning that legacy into a laughingstock – as his play continues to incite more pity than awe.
Related commentary:
Tiger will finally speak…
Tiger bad play….