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The Psych Ward

by John Ward

Welcome into the mind of John Ward ladies and gentlemen. Informativesports.com has chosen to turn the Golf Section of their web site over to me for the time being and it is my intention to make this THE place that you go for your golf information, questions, and general knowledge of the game. I’ll provide tournament coverage, helpful tips, and observations that I think could be interesting to all of you. Feel free to shoot any criticism or questions over to the mailbag and I’ll be more than happy to read what you have to say.

TIGER WOODS

Seeing as how this just recently became my space, I’ll lead off with my own personal opinion and observations of the whole Tiger Woods saga.  

Much like the ancient Greeks had their gods, we have our athletes. We “worship” them when really the only thing they’ve accomplished is the ability to have the correct genetic makeup. As such, athletes are given a sense of invincibility. The normal laws and rules of humanity don’t apply to them. Tiger was no different. We built this man up because of his incredible golf skill, his ability to shut out everything and sink that 10 foot putt to win the tournament, to stone the 7 iron from 200 yards to seal the deal. We revered this man and focused only on his golf skills, not his social agenda.  

This entire downfall from grace made me think of my all-time favorite movie, Fight Club. There’s a scene in the movie where the two main characters are talking about life. One says something to the effect of, “I graduate from college so I call my dad and ask, what now? He responds with, I don’t know, get a job. So I get a job, one year passes and I call my dad again and say, well dad, what now? He says, I don’t know, get married.” This is the agenda of our society. We are taught from a young age to go to school, get a job, and get married. The truth is that no one knows how to do this “perfectly” or even why we HAVE to do this. I don’t want to say that Tiger was forced into marriage but at the same time, did he really have any other choice? He’d been taught to “go to college, get a job, and get married.” Obviously, he wasn’t ready for marriage at that time in his life, but it was the socially acceptable thing to do... So he did it. 

I’m not saying I condone his actions, merely pointing out that we as Americans fail to realize our own mishaps as a society and instead choose to focus on individuals accomplishments and failures. What’s the old mantra though? We are only as strong as our weakest link. This is no different. WE built Tiger to the heights that he accomplished. Without us there to praise him every step of the way, he’s nothing. WE allowed him to believe he was greater than the moral boundaries of acceptable society. Our blind worship let him know that he was “better” than the rest of us. WE taught him the “correct” way to live life and he did what he was told. College, job, marriage. Three things that we’re all taught to do. So really, if you think about what I’ve said, it’s partly, if not mostly, society to blame for this whole thing. How’s that for a different spin on things? 

As for Tiger returning to golf, I just can’t see him missing the Masters. He’s focused his entire career on the majors and I don’t see him missing one now. He has too much of a competitive fire and the galleries at Augusta are true golf fans. They know proper golf course etiquette and would treat him as a golfer, not an adulterer. I also believe that he will come back stronger than he was before (yes, that’s possible). All great athletes and teams bounce back from adversity with the mentality that they’re going to destroy anything in their path. What’s amazing is that they then accomplish it. 2007 Patriots, Kobe, Ray Lewis etc... They come out like heat seeking missiles. Hidden from sight until the last possible second, down and out, and then they blow up and destroy everything. Tiger will be the same way. Nicklaus’ majors record will be a long forgotten memory when all is said and done. Sam Snead’s 82 PGA tour victories? Dead and gone. Tiger will blow through the record books, making sure to erase any doubt that he is the greatest golfer to ever play the game.

Submitted 02/08/2010

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