One measure of how precipitously Tiger Woods' stock has fallen was my surprise at seeing him featured in a television commercial this week. As the advertisement eventually revealed, the next edition of his eponymous videogame is set to be released. The game manufacturer has little choice but to feature Tiger in its advertisements, but it is conspicuously odd to see him endorsing a product. I did not realize quite how I felt about his personal fall from grace until I found myself consciously wondering why I was seeing him on my television in an advertisement.
Tiger's life, both personally and professionally, is not irredeemable. There is little question, however, that the broad-based enthusiasm for both his persona and his golfing prowess has diminished significantly. Even with a golf fan like me.
As the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach next week, I can't help but reflect on a few days I got to attend practice rounds at the Open in 1992. Like me, Phil Mickelson had just graduated from college. He was the brightest new star in golf, having already won a professional tournament while still in college, capping off a stellar amateur career that included a U.S. Amateur title and three NCAA titles. Personally, I had an automatic affinity for him simply because we were the same age and he was one of the first people of my generation to emerge on the world stage,and thoroughly enjoyed watching him play and gracefully accept the accolades of the fans. Just five years later, Tiger quickly eclipsed Phil as he hottest young talent on the PGA Tour, rightfully ascending to legendary status only a few years into his career. Even though I have loved following Tiger's career and have thoroughly enjoyed his talent, though, I have never stopped being a Mickelson fan.
While Tiger lived in seclusion off the course and surly isolation on it, Mickelson always offered smiles and high fives to fans, and eschewed Tiger's tactical perfection in favor of creativity that often crossed the line to recklessness. Critics blasted Mickelson's demeanor as insincere and foregave Tiger his tunnel vision. Although often derided for appearing to lack Tiger's focus and discipline, it was Mickelson's openness and brio endeared him to many fans.
As the sordid details of Tiger's life outside the ropes spilled out over the course of too many days starting last Thanksgiving, it became clear to me that Mickelson's reputation, both personally and professionally, would surpass Tigers again, arising from the very same characteristics that defined the two men. Mickelson, a handsome upper-class guy from San Diego who married the cheerleader and fathered three cute kids, stepped away from the game last year to be with her as she undertook painful treatment for breast cancer (at the same time Mickelson's mother was going through the same thing). Meanwhile, Tiger, all indomitable focus and private security, was exposed to be a cynical cad who compartmentalized his life and used countless people to satisfy his various demands.
Mickelson's victory at this year's Masters tournament, the tournament that initially defined the Tiger legend, could not have been sweeter. Tiger played well, but was too rusty from his self-imposed layoff from his personal scandals to win, and Phil was at his swashbuckling best on his way to a third career win at Augusta, one behind Tiger. For all of the heroics on the golf course, the tearful embrace between Phil and Amy Mickelson behind the 18th green will probably be the defining image of that tournament. That embrace, and all of the life in it, the twinned despair and triumph, fear and victory, stands in stark repudiation of the soullessness of Tiger's accomplishments. There will never be any question that Tiger's talent, ambition and accomplishments stand out as towering achievements of any sportsman of any age. The revealed emptiness of his character, however, will also be inextricably attached to his name. Any number of decent men on the PGA Tour offer a counterpoint to Tiger's story, but it was poetically appropriate that the answer came from his longtime and forever closest rival.
After five career runner-up finishes, here's hoping Phil will pick up his first U.S. Open title next week.
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