Sunday, April 11, 2010

Why the Masters will be an ultimate failure for Tiger Woods if he does not win this tournament.

Don't worry, this won't take long at all.

Since the beginning of the year when Tiger Woods first crashed his SUV, since all of the tales of adultery and scandal, since his stint in rehab for his "sex addiction", and since his declaration to comeback at this years masters, the sports and gossip communities have been having a field day with the story that is Tiger Woods.

What should Tiger expect from not only his fans, but his colleagues as he comes back? Who does he owe an apology to? How should he act? Where's Elin? What's the status on his marriage?

Notice how none of these questions addressed what really matters this week?

I'm going to say this right now: if Tiger Woods doesn't win the masters (which, at this rate, it doesn't look like he will) this will be a failure of a tournament for him, no matter what anyone else says.

I say this confidently for a number of reasons which circulate around one main reason: the fact that the Masters is about golf; not infidelity, not fan reaction, it's about putting the ball in the hole. Turning away from the countless reports of mistresses and problems in his personal life, and acknowledging the fact that this is what the public wants to hear about, the point is, when Tiger Woods steps on to a golf course, his personal life does not matter. It shouldn't matter to him, it shouldn't matter to his colleagues, and it shouldn't matter to us.

Let's get one thing out of the way: by the end of his career, if not already, Tiger Woods will be regarded as the greatest golfer in the history of the sport. However, while I appreciate and understand the necessity for a player transcending his sport through endorsements, culture, and being a global icon (i.e 23), the foundation of the man's success is golf.

So today, as Tiger Woods, the Greatest of all time, aims to take a shot at that green jacket, keep in mind that whether he wins or loses, the affair never mattered. This is Tiger Woods losing the masters, Jordan missing the game winner, Montana running out of time...

It's the dominant force in a sport failing.

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