Tiger, Get your Shit Together

Tiger Woods has never known failure in professional golf. He has dominated the field since he became a pro in the 1990s, and has held the #1 ranking consecutively since 2005. But this past weekend at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational tournament, Tiger played his worst round of golf ever as a pro, finishing 18 over par. When discussing his poor performance, all Woods could say was that "'[i]t's been a long year."

Uh, Tiger, no shit its been a long year. Your wife found out you were cheating on her with multiple women, you crashed your car, you are losing $100+ million in a divorce, your sponsors are dropping like flies, and your golf game has gone down the tube. Not to mention that the public's view into your sexual indiscretions has not been pleasant - couldn't you have gone for some classier more attractive women?

Despite your "long year" Tiger, we still watch you play golf and dread a Ryder Cup (a golf tournament between the best in the US versus the best in Europe) without you in it. There is no doubt that there is a lot wrong with you after what has been exposed this year, but is there something wrong with us for wanting you to come back and succeed? Why do we continue to root for you - the golf superstar that managed to lie to his fans and more importantly, his family, about who he really is?

Remember that frat brother or sorority sister who was always the life of the party? He or she was the center of attention - the first to get on the dance floor, take a shot, or wear a crazy costume. Your pledge class would have really suffered if he/she was not there to make the moment. Yet, you always managed to keep you distance from this individual on an everyday basis since this boisterous personality did not transfer well to life outside the party. Maybe he/she was too loud, too obnoxious, or too outspoken when there wasn't an occasion to make a scene. But you never wanted to throw a party without he/she being in attendance - you looked the other way at the individual's everyday indiscretions, because they were too critical for the success of the social scene.

This is our Tiger. We look down upon him in our everyday lives, but he is too critical for our love of golf to ignore. Moreover, golf needs him, because he is the best. There is nothing wrong with us for wanting Tiger back, we simply want to watch the best (and of course take down those Europeans in the Ryder Cup).

However, Tiger must perform - he cannot blame his poor swings and misdirected putts on his world outside golf as the two worlds must not collide. Tiger must continue to be the life of the golf party ('cause let's be honest, golf without him would be just too damn boring), while keeping his personal life separate. Sure, golf is a mental game, but so what? We as fans should not be forced to evaluate Tiger's golf through the events of his personal life. Tiger needs to get his shit together - whatever it takes - or he may lose another thing this year, the support of his fans. We all have challenges in our everyday lives, yet we succeed by not allowing them to effect other challenges in which we strive to be the best.