Today’s reminiscence of time spent with Tiger Woods and his father Earl by Karen Crouse of the NEW YORK TIMES elicits mixed signals on what led to the alleged multiple affairs of Tiger. Affairs, as incomprehensible actions, that wrecked his personal life and business relationships.
(Earl: Explaining The Unexplainable)
Crouse claims that because of his young two children, 2009 was the first year that Tiger gave ground to the media on anything save his steely golf acumen.
His 2-year-old daughter, Sam, and 10-month-old son, Charlie, brought out Woods’s softer side in interviews. When I covered Woods early in his career, the only warmth he exuded in news conferences came from the vibrant reds of his signature Sunday shirts.
This year was different. Returning to competitive golf in late February after a nine-month injury-induced absence, Woods drew me in with a smile that started in his eyes when he talked about his children. When he was asked about the birth of Charlie or how he occupied himself while recovering from knee surgery, his eyes grew moony and his voice was lilting — a marked departure from his monotone.
Crouse then noted the now-regrettable headlines of pieces she wrote about Tiger this past year:
“The Family Guy Is Back on the Course” and “All Eyes Are on Tiger, the Father.”
Those anecdotes make Tiger’s betrayal to his family that much more inexplicable.
But Crouse also recounts sentiment from Tiger’s father Earl that, once again, helps us understand why the golfer elected a path of personal self-destruction.
Woods’s parenting role model was his father, Earl, who was committed to rearing him after having two sons and a daughter in a failed first marriage. Earl, a retired Army officer, attributed the divorce to military obligations that took him away from the family. Asked how he would manage to be there for his children when golf takes him away from home so much, Woods told me, “It’s going to be a lot more difficult, there’s no doubt.”
Perhaps Woods was destined to be like his father, only not in the way he had hoped. Over lunch on the veranda at the Masters one year, Earl Woods said, “I’ve told Tiger that marriage is unnecessary in a mobile society like ours.”
It’s easy to pile on Tiger’s late father for the golfer’s unthinking sins against so many, and if you were to ask Tiger why he did what he did, I’m sure he wouldn’t blame his dad.
But the more we learn about Earl and his relationship with his son, the more we can only conclude that his influence on Tiger is the primary explanation for what otherwise is unexplainable.
5:17 pm on December 26th, 2009
Crazy…lol I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…
http://curtisandkyle.com/2009/12/03/tiger-woods-beat-up/
At the end of the day Tiger is still the best golfer in the world. It is funny how many people are saying he is somehow going to forget how to play golf…
5:21 pm on December 26th, 2009
Why does the Cadillac ad on the left side of here keep blocking out parts of the latest story? It does this every day and there’s no way to close it.
6:55 pm on December 26th, 2009
Perhaps Woods was destined to be like his father, only not in the way he had hoped. Over lunch on the veranda at the Masters one year, Earl Woods said, “I’ve told Tiger that marriage is unnecessary in a mobile society like ours.”
YUP, that was Earl. And that is a number of pro athletes, politicians, CEOs, and types who think that the rules do not apply to them.
LUDA, I don’t think Tiger will forget how to play golf. I just think it’ll be a hoot the first time he’s lining up a putt on the 12th green or asking for his driver on the 15th tee and a fan in the gallery yells out, “Hey, Tiger, who’d you sleep with last night?”
That’s where the Billionaire will meet the road.
7:56 pm on December 26th, 2009
Ya cuz marriage gets in the way of balling hoes… of course. Thx Earl!
7:59 pm on December 26th, 2009
Hey I smell another life lesson book in the making …
9:33 pm on December 26th, 2009
Yea no joke…Entitled…
How to catch a Tiger ( a romance novel)
or up next on VH1…The Bachelor, Tiger edition
10:53 am on December 27th, 2009
Tiger was a hound when he was single, why would he change when he was married?
12:56 pm on December 27th, 2009
Earl was correct. Marriage is NOT necessary. If Tiger had listened to his father, and stayed single, then he wouldn’t be in this mess.
1:26 pm on December 27th, 2009
Tiger got more a$$ than a toilet seat at Lileth Fair
9:57 pm on December 27th, 2009
he was trying to say why would you get married when you are rich and famous…that shit is for us poor slobs who work 9 to 5… half of the MEN who follow tiger religously and buy everything that he endorses would sleep with him, let alone the women. Why in Gods name would you get married when you are a billionaire playing a game that most men pay to play… If you have the perfect life why would you screw it up with a wife and kids… save that crap for when you are too old to get it up anymore. I like how all the self righteous assholes are trying to put words and actions on the account of a dead man who happened to have been divorced
11:53 pm on December 27th, 2009
You can rest easy now Farber; you finally got a chance to use that line….lol
10:45 am on December 28th, 2009
Wow, slym, you should seek help for that psychological problem you have.
2:35 am on December 29th, 2009
Yes, Earl made him do it, what a load of crap. Tiger was well educated we thought.