By Jack Crittenden
Thank you Tiger for your apology. Now, hopefully, we can move on.
When we did our first version of the Most Powerful People in Golf in 1999, we ranked Tiger Woods third, based on the promise of what he could accomplish. Tiger was young, and promised to bring in a legion of new followers to the game – people who were younger and more diverse. Unlike any other player at that age, he started a foundation to promote the game and he seemed committed to serving others in this capacity.
Two years later, he moved into our number one slot — again based hope. We wrote at the time, “So far there is little evidence that his latest success is making a difference. And if he doesn’t take steps to capitalize, it could be a disappointing waste of power.”
Unfortunately, all of the hope and promise turned to naught. The once jovial 23-year old kid who seemed committed to helping others, slowly allowed fame and money to outweigh his promise of hope.
The next time we saw him start something new in the golf industry, he was announcing that he would design golf courses — but only for the wealthiest people in the world. None of the juniors or disadvantaged youth that he said he would help in the early 2000’s would likely ever set foot on a Tiger Woods golf course.
And now we know that he also let his personal life slide from one of service to others into the self-serving pursuit of chasing women. I can only imagine that what started as a thrilling escape from the pressures of a very public life, quickly turned into obsession, and a horde of lies and deceit.
Like it has for so many other men, the lies we allow, slowly consume us. Tiger was perhaps able to keep the charade up longer than most because of his overwhelming wealth. He became adept at hiding the truth from his wife, his fans and the world.
But, anyone could tell that the kid from 2000 had changed – even long before his wife chased him with a golf club. And with his lost innocence went the hope that he would help build a new generation of golfers.
We should have never hoped that one man could save an industry. And we should not blame golf’s problems on Tiger. Many people in the industry did their own skirt chasing — albeit after the mighty dollar. How many developers tried to take advantage of that housing bubble? How many operators allowed their management to be lax, their service to suffer?
Many of us got fat on what was really a mirage. Tiger is not to blame for that. He is just a symbol — a very public symbol — of what happens the morning after a binge.
And finally, he has apologized for his sins — perhaps a little later than the rest of us. It is time to forgive him, forgive the overindulgent developers, and private club operators that pushed exclusivity. When we do, then we can all move forward and focus on making golf fun again.
Personally, I want to see Tiger smile again. I want to see private clubs reinvent themselves, and developers build courses for the masses.
We all have an amazing opportunity to reinvent ourselves for the better — to place the past behind us and become better people.
This is where our hope lies. Even if it will require a lot more pain to get there, I believe in forgiveness and the power of redemption. If Tiger moves forward with a contrite heart, there is nothing to stop him from finally capitalizing on that power we identified so long ago.
-Jack Crittenden is Editor In Chief of Golf Inc. magazine
