9803250083
DETROIT FREE PRESS
980325
Wednesday, March 25, 1998
METRO FINAL
1D
Photo
Tiger Woods calls the Players Championship a warm-up act for the
Masters. See Page 5D.
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1998, Detroit Free Press
DESPITE HYPE, TIGER DOESN'T ALWAYS WIN
Just under a year ago, we took a talented young golfer and turned him into a
god. Fortunately, for Tiger Woods, he has turned himself back into a man.
Unfortunately, for Tiger Woods, he's had to do it by losing.
That's right. Tiger loses. He loses close. He loses far. He loses a playoff.
He loses by collapsing on the final day. He even loses, once, by missing the
cut.
I know this is hard to believe, given the fact that nearly every TV
commercial, magazine cover, hat, shoe, glove, club, ball, bag and Wheaties box
celebrates Woods as a winner. And for the casual golf observer -- the guy who
catches highlights on "SportsCenter" while making himself a late-night
sandwich -- it might appear that Tiger is winning every week, since we see so
much of him.
But the truth is, these days, Woods is more footage than front-runner. You
know the last time Tiger actually won a PGA tournament? Last July.
That's right. Eight months and counting.
"It's not a bad thing for people to say I haven't won in eight months," he
said last week before the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Fla., "because
that means they expect me to win."
Of course, they expected him to win at Bay Hill, too. And sure enough, he came
into the final day as co-leader. Remember last year, when the sight of Tiger
in front of the pack reduced other golfers to mushy-stroked spectators?
Not anymore. On Sunday, Ernie Els, playing side-by-side with Tiger, stormed
past him, bettering Woods by 12 strokes, leaving him in the dust.
Nothing mushy about that.
And it's not the first time.
Close but no cigar
Take a look at Tiger's record this year. In the season's first PGA event, he
charged from behind on the last day, but Phil Mickelson held him off to win at
the Mercedes Championships.
Next time out, at the Buick Invitational, Tiger tried but couldn't catch Scott
Simpson.
Next time, at the Nissan Open, he forced a playoff with Billy Mayfair. Tiger
lost.
He then went to the Doral, in Miami, and finished eight golfers behind someone
named Michael Bradley, who, for all I know, could be Bill Bradley's brother,
Ed Bradley's cousin, or Milton-Bradley's uncle.
And last week, at Bay Hill, Tiger went from tied for the lead on Saturday to
13th place on Sunday, shooting the second-worst round of his pro career, a 77.
He finished not only behind Els, but also behind guys like Bob Estes, Jim
Furyk, Andrew Magee and Stephen Ames.
Line up any of those guys on the street, and I defy the average American to
identify them as golfers -- unless they're wearing pink pants.
What's that you're saying? "Where's the Tiger Woods we're always told about?
Didn't he win the Masters?"
Of course he won the Masters. And that's what started this whole overblown
hype machine in the first place. (No. I take that back. What started it was
when Nike signed Tiger to a $40-million contract. As a company that should be
in the cosmetics business, considering how it specializes in image, you knew
right away that if Tigermania didn't exist, Nike would invent it.)
As it turned out, Woods stunned the world at Augusta, hugged his father in an
emotional climax, and Nike needed no help getting his balloon off the ground.
There were many in my business who, after seeing Woods demolish the Masters'
field, then capture the Byron Nelson Classic his next time out, predicted that
Woods "might not lose again all year."
That would have to be called "overstating the case."
The fact is, Tiger won the Masters at least partly because it is a course that
plays to his strengths. At the other three majors, he did not fare so well. He
was 19th at the U.S. Open, 24th at the British Open and 31st at the PGA
Championship.
Anyone else put up those finishes, you are not seeing him on David Letterman.
Arnie and Jack couldn't do it
Now, if it seems like I'm being harsh on Woods, I am not. Stating a guy's
record should never be considered harsh. But perhaps the very idea of
criticizing Woods has become somehow taboo, and that is an insult to him, as
well as other golfers.
In point of fact, I think his current "slump" (he did win a non-PGA event in
Thailand) is not only good for Tiger, but good for us. The amount of pressure
placed on this marvelous young talent is almost beyond measure. Every week, he
is supposed to live up to some ridiculous standard. Ben Hogan didn't win every
time he went out, nor even the majority of times. Same goes for Arnold Palmer
or Jack Nicklaus.
Yet, in hailing what Woods can do for the human race, we forgot to let him be
human. He's 22. In golf, that's a barely unwrapped Christmas present.
He is still near the top of the money leaders, still drives the ball like
Hercules, and is likely playing better overall golf than last year. He may
well be, before he is through, the greatest golfer to ever play the game.
But he should be allowed to work his way up to that, same as everyone else.
And in the meantime, he's going to lose. And when other golfers beat him, they
should be celebrated for their victories, which are more than just Tiger Woods
defeats.
In two weeks is the Masters. The hype machine will crank at full speed. But
Woods, like all golfers, has now tasted more defeat than victory. As his date
with destiny approaches, the kid who broke down barriers should be allowed to
get off the pedestal.
To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581.
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COLUMN;TIGER WOODS