Tiger Woods: A fallen star, and officially a failure at marriage
I once asked Tiger Woods to describe, in 25 words or less, what it was like being Tiger Woods. Being Tiger Woods, he finished 24-under.
“Sweet,” he said.
That was in October 2003. It happened after Tiger’s first round at the WGC-American Express Championship in Woodstock. There weren’t many folks there that Thursday, and essentially everybody on hand was following Tiger. (Department of weird coincidences: One of those in Tiger’s gallery was Damon Evans, who would become Georgia’s athletics director the next year.)
Tiger Woods would become engaged to Elin Nordegren the next month. They would marry in 2004 in Barbados, with the guests including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and Bill Gates. Tiger and Elin would have two children. Life seemed … well, sweet.
As of today, Tiger and Elin are no longer man and wife. Not nine months after he ran into a fire hydrant backing out of his driveway on the morning after Thanksgiving, the divorce has been finalized. And if you’re chuckling and saying, “Tiger’s free to chase women and not be labeled a cheetah” … ask yourself this: Do you think even Tiger Woods would today describe his life as “sweet”?
He has lost a wife. He will surely be rendered an absentee father. Once the idol of millions, he’s now a fallen star — indeed, maybe the biggest fallen star in the history of sports. He has not won a tournament this calendar year, and there were years when Tiger would claim a half-dozen trophies. (Indeed, he won that modest event in Woodstock.)
He’ll surely win again, but we will never again regard him the same way. He has gone from being unbeatable to being the butt of jokes and now, as of this Monday in August 2010, he’s legally just another failed husband.
Even if this damage was all self-inflicted, the temptation is nonetheless to feel a bit sorry for him. Because none of us will ever know how it is to Have It All. And none of us, thank goodness, will ever know how it is to throw so much away.
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243 comments Add your comment
marc
August 23rd, 2010
4:39 pm
wow…never knew there were so many perfect people in Atlanta..funny, I’ve been here 16 years and have yet to bump into one….haters, be careful of the karma you are spitting out. As for Tiger Woods…I choose not to judge him.
Pago Pago Dawg
August 23rd, 2010
4:39 pm
Just sayin’…you would have thought the UGA ex ad would have learned from the great husband/father tiger.
Dr. Warren
August 23rd, 2010
4:39 pm
@Tony: I have lived in China for a very long time, and I have barely thought of OJ in the last decade or so, and I challenge you to find any posts on the Web with OJ “jabs” from me. If you really are defending OJ, then I say: learn to be more sophisticated and less preoccupied by race. To defend OJ is shameful and done out of racial anger rather than reason or common sense.
TRUTH
August 23rd, 2010
4:40 pm
TIGER YOU SHOULD BE SO GLAD THAT THE WORLD IS NOT GOD BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FORGIVING AND THEY WOULD HAVE SENT YOU TO HELL NONSTOP.
GOD WILL FORGIVE YOU.
GOD SAYS IF WE REPENT FROM OUR SINS HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
Will
August 23rd, 2010
4:41 pm
I saw Damon following Tiger at The Masters this past year. Is that weird or what?
Bama Aaron
August 23rd, 2010
4:41 pm
Very good article MB. I agree with it all.
Mark
August 23rd, 2010
4:41 pm
Agree with the majority…How in the world do you feel sorry for him…his arrogance caught up with him, he has yet to even come close to hitting rock bottom…question is …Has he learned anything ?….time will tell….his kids are the real losers in this
Joey
August 23rd, 2010
4:42 pm
He’ll get his swing back, Mark, but the days of the PGA Tour being intimidated of him are gone. I think some players exposed that chink in the armour the last 3 years, beating him head to head in majors. I mean, in that time, he has beat ……….(drum roll)………….. Rocco Mediate!!
He is human, and I think it bothers him what the gallery thinks of him now, and it is more than a little embarrassing for him for all the wild shots, over-par rounds, and needing Pavin to pick him for the Ryder Cup instead of qualifying for it.
I do wish Tiger well, nobody is perfect, so I won’t judge him.. As much as I’d like to think I wouldn’t be tempted in behaving like that if I were in his shoes, a 30-something year old billionaire athlete, with women falling all over you, every waking minute, I’m probably fooling myself.
That's Sick
August 23rd, 2010
4:43 pm
“It’s kinda hard to feel sorry for someone who’s about to cash a 9-figure settlement check too.”
I feel sorry for YOUR wife .
Gary Playa
August 23rd, 2010
4:44 pm
Poor Tiger. Really poor now.
bjohn1202
August 23rd, 2010
4:44 pm
Erin made out like a bandit. Remember, she was a nanny when she met Tiger. One think Tiger’s dad did not teach him was
1) Sow your wild oats before to plant your seed.
2) marry someone who could bring an entree to table.
She brought nothing to the marriage and left much, much better when she left.
Boo
August 23rd, 2010
4:46 pm
Tiger is still the number 1 player in golf. All you haters get a life. Judge yourself. Elin married Tiger for the fame and money that goes with it. I hear she was a beast too and could hold her own. They both will move on.
Go Tiger, I’m still a fan. For those who have not sinned, let them cast the first stone.
Dubbs05
August 23rd, 2010
4:47 pm
I got first dibbs on Elin.
curious
August 23rd, 2010
4:47 pm
Without Elin keeping watch, Tiger will be free to improve his lies, especially to the media and any fans that remain.
As for golf, I am beginning to enjoy the PGA on television. Now that Tiger is making more bogies than birdies, other pros are getting the attention they deserve. It’s amazing! No more swearing in front of cameras, no more dropped clubs, no more pouting.
Tiger could come back, I suppose. But he not longer has the advantage of distance or intimidation or the intangibles that made him great. Instead of commanding huge galleries and constant TV coverage, he’ll drop to the second tier, As for statistics, update them. Tiger is not the top golfer in the world. Far from it.
Tiger is beginning to look like the kid who passed wind in a crowded pool.
Ed
August 23rd, 2010
4:47 pm
Why in the world would someone as rich and famous as Tiger Woods get married? He didn’t even get a prenuptual agreement signed. The good news is he is still worth millions and can pretty much have any woman he wants. So hopefully he will not make the same mistake again by getting remarried.
barneyb
August 23rd, 2010
4:47 pm
It’s tragic that a family has been destroyed by philandering. I feel not one ounce of pity for him. But those poor kids….he’s such a douchebag
Red Panties
August 23rd, 2010
4:49 pm
No longer a sex addict…..now he’s just a playa. He loses a beautiful wife and two adorable children (who will read of his antics one day). No amount of money can compare to what he has lost. What a waste. Perhaps he shouldn’t have believed everything he read about himself.
juice sourcer
August 23rd, 2010
4:51 pm
How many of you people writing posts have had an affair or are divorced….50% I bet…or you have never been married. He is clearly flawed like all of us.
Mark
August 23rd, 2010
4:51 pm
Honestly….I wonder if Tiger ever wins again….the armor is gone
Joey
August 23rd, 2010
4:52 pm
wxwax said: “From what I hear, Arnold Palmer was a huge hound dog who cheated on his beloved wife Winnie just as frequently as Tiger Woods.”
*************************************************
Well hell, man, name some names! ……… Give us a link! ……………………..waiting…………..! Jeez. . .
High Horse
August 23rd, 2010
4:52 pm
“She brought nothing to the marriage and left much, much better when she left.”
Something tells me you are a loser! A woman like Elin (not Erin you moron) would become physically ill at the sight of a loser like you, that is if she would bother looking at you in the first place
tommyboy
August 23rd, 2010
4:53 pm
who cares tiger can suck my big toe
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 23rd, 2010
4:55 pm
I agree O.J is by far the bigger fallen star. Tiger now seems just a mere mortal now.
As a society have we taken as more enjoyment into his failures as we did in watching him succeed?
Ahnald
August 23rd, 2010
4:55 pm
Tiger was leading a “fake” life…happily married , beautiful wife and children….my advice is go away for awhile, get yourself together,clear your head…stop being so arrogant amd immature…grow up
jerry fresh
August 23rd, 2010
4:55 pm
wow…and that’s coming from somebody named trashy
droopydawg
August 23rd, 2010
4:57 pm
Just for the record: I would still trade lives with him.
droopydawg
August 23rd, 2010
4:58 pm
Who the heck are all you nobodies to judge Tiger?
Monica
August 23rd, 2010
5:03 pm
I slept with Tiger and he was below par
Ahnald
August 23rd, 2010
5:05 pm
I slept with Monica and she was double bogey all the way
bTiger Woods: A fallen star, and now officially a failure at … · Golf Courses
August 23rd, 2010
5:05 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerptTiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have officially been divorced. [...]
Joey
August 23rd, 2010
5:05 pm
Damn, just go by “droopy,” you are an embarrassment to Dawgs.
Alabama Communist
August 23rd, 2010
5:08 pm
Tiger a failure as a hubby?? You must have no idea what failure is when Tiger had 45 Hooters Servers working for him……..
steve
August 23rd, 2010
5:10 pm
Tiger has always acted like he was better then anyone else because of all the money , he is just a spoiled rich, immature adult that thought he could do anything he wanted and suffer no consequences , Ellen is so much better off without him and if he never wins again I will not feel sorry for him.
jerry fresh
August 23rd, 2010
5:10 pm
Mark Bradley is an idiot…I think that says it all. Tiger Woods is a great golfer. He will win again, and often. And for the rest of you morons trying to somehow take that away from him, get a life. You WILL buy his endorsed products. You WILL pay to see him play. You WILL tune in to watch him on television just like you did with Mike Tyson, Koby Bryant, and countless others…so shut up!!!
Marcel
August 23rd, 2010
5:14 pm
MB – I thought you were a sports writer…
This low-class article is just an example of how the people love to wallow in other people’s mess.
It’s also an example of how some people delight in bringing down a certain demographic of folks they think have gotten a little to uppity for their liking. And you can read between the lines of that statement all you want.
Maybe we can move on and talk about the status of the game of golf with Tiger no longer a top contender. Have TV ratings dropped? What do advertisers and sponsors think of the game without Tiger’s dominating presence? That is an article worthy of reading, since it would impact our ability to enjoy a sport that so many took up due primary to Tiger Woods.
Ahnald
August 23rd, 2010
5:15 pm
Jerry….wrong answer Hans….I WILL NOT PAY to watch him play,period, I WILL NOT pay for his endorsed products,period ….MAYBE I tune in to watch him, but my thing is I do not think he has learned a thing, as Steve says, he still is brash and immature, the news conference he gave providing an “update” with his mother present was his “lebron james” moment….he is so self absorbed
J-Man
August 23rd, 2010
5:22 pm
Jack Nicholas was an absentee father. And admitted so. He was always gone, never home. And if you think Jack didn’t have a little “Squeeze” on the side, you are kidding yourself. The difference is we didn’t have a freaking billion reporters running around looking for Celebrity dirt. Also we didn’t have the Internet or ESPN!
Tiger will be fine. How many of you HATERS have ever been divorced. Heck, half of you are well behind on child support! So stop crucifying the guy, he’s never done one thing to you. And as far as cursing, are you kidding me? Your kids never heard a curse word from your lips or your spouse’s lips? What “Fantasy” world are you living in. I never group up idolizing anyone but my father. So I could care less what pro athletes or celebrities do or say. My son is the same way. And if your parenting skills were better, your kids would not idolize athletes and celebrities anyway. They would idolize YOU!
Grrrr…. Leave Tiger Alone!
Poor Bradley
August 23rd, 2010
5:24 pm
Reduced to this? wow……so sad.
J-Man
August 23rd, 2010
5:24 pm
J-Man
August 23rd, 2010
5:22 pm
Jack Nicholas was an absentee father. And admitted so. He was always gone, never home. And if you think Jack didn’t have a little “Squeeze” on the side, you are kidding yourself. The difference is we didn’t have a freaking billion reporters running around looking for Celebrity dirt. Also we didn’t have the Internet or ESPN!
Tiger will be fine. How many of you HATERS have ever been divorced. Heck, half of you are well behind on child support! So stop crucifying the guy, he’s never done one thing to you. And as far as cursing, are you kidding me? Your kids never heard a curse word from your lips or your spouse’s lips? What “Fantasy” world are you living in. I never group up idolizing anyone but my father. So I could care less what pro athletes or celebrities do or say. My son is the same way. And if your parenting skills were better, your kids would not idolize athletes and celebrities anyway. They would idolize YOU!
Grrrr…. Leave Tiger Alone!
Joey
August 23rd, 2010
5:25 pm
Nice, Techie (Damon Evans). You gave yourself away with the “red panties …”
When you grow up to be a man, you’ll hopefully like red panties on a woman. But then again, you’re a Techie . . .
Kim Kardashian
August 23rd, 2010
5:34 pm
Tiger will growl again, its not against the law to be divorced you idiot, he shoulda done all his playa times before Elin but she gets 100 mill, 50 per kid, so what he will make that back & more when he starts winning again, then everyone will want to jump on the Tiger train again, butt I’ll already be riding cause you know how I like dark meat! GRRRRRRRR
itpdude
August 23rd, 2010
5:36 pm
“Just” another failed husband?
How many broads did this guy bang while married? How soon after his wedding was he banging women other than his wife? How much urine did he spray on these women? How much unprotected sex did he have with porn stars before going back home to have unprotected sex with his wife?
Your description completely belittles the sheer gravity of his failure. Tiger failed, yes, but failed to the extreme.
Willy
August 23rd, 2010
5:44 pm
I heard Tiger has decided to live at Damon Evans’ new bachelor pad.
Crass Realist
August 23rd, 2010
5:52 pm
Tiger said in his now famous “mea culpa” TV special that Elin was in no way to blame. I say otherwise…she is an icy, aloof b**ch and if she had taken better care of Tiger, this would not have happened. It is as much about the wife keeping the fires burning as it is the husband making sure he only tends to one fire. Tiger went on the other side of the tracks with Elin…she is a money-hungry prostitute who just got her payday. Tiger, I’m on your side! I hope you find someone with whom you fall in love…
theriddler
August 23rd, 2010
6:00 pm
Speaking of trash, you see ACromartie on Hard Knocks? Couldn’t name his kids. Sweet.
Bill Cosby
August 23rd, 2010
6:06 pm
It’s the magnitude of it all… a dozen random dancers, waitresses, hookers (models)… could spread STD’s to his beautiful wife or among all of “em… NOT JUST ONE mistress… he didn’t have time to sign autographs for kids ????? .. it’s in our genes… personal responsibility folks !!!
High Horse
August 23rd, 2010
6:12 pm
“Tiger, I’m on your side! I hope you find someone with whom you fall in love…”
Like you, Crass? Don’t you live in one of those shacks off Washington Rd near Augusta National? You’ll need lots of luck and major reconstructive surgery to go with it to snag Tiger. Best wishes CrASS!
Jack Nicklaus
August 23rd, 2010
6:19 pm
He Will NEVER Break My Record! A win or two here and there but golf is a very mental game and he no longer has the EDGE. That is his final Punishment!
destin dawg
August 23rd, 2010
6:26 pm
I love it !! Tiger let Fuzzy Zoeller hang on a comment he made to ESPN (they dug up days later)…. after couple beers coming out of locker room… “What do they eat Chicken and greens ? ” Tiger could have come out “Fuzzy always jokes around” didn’t mean anything etc…. but NO Tiger let Fuzzy hang and lost his K Mart sponsorship…. I LOVE THIS PAYBACK !!!
bob
August 23rd, 2010
6:28 pm
Elle is like a pro football player. Never lives up to their contract and holds out for more money. Tiger is like golfer. They use their putter, then move on to the next hole.