Woods learns the hard way that being Woods
is not easy
By Ed Sherman
Chicago Tribune
LEMONT, Ill. - Tiger Woods has the image of being a charismatic
sports hero, but there's another perception that's developing.
A letter from this week's Golf World magazine reads like a
3-iron hitting Woods in the temple:
"He is consistently as rude, egotistical and churlish
as he is talented."
His Nike commercials say, "I am Tiger Woods." They
should also add, "and it is not easy."
When the 21-year-old Woods tees off at the Motorola Western
Open for Thursday's first round at Cog Hill Country Club, he will
be followed by such huge galleries that special security precautions
have been taken to get him around the course.
Woods already has endorsement deals totaling more than $70
million. He flies in private planes and pals around with his new
friends "Mike" and "Kevin," as in Jordan and
Costner. As he says, his life has some "perks."
But it also has some consequences. The darling of Nike marketing
has, on occasion, found himself in an unflattering light. He lives
under a microscope and the lens is exposing some flaws.
Woods has made mistakes handling fame. Some of his actions
have alienated his fellow players. His relationship with the media
is strained at best.
Even his father, Earl Woods, says his son could do better.
"Yes, he has made some mistakes," Earl Woods said.
"Some of them have been unwarranted and overblown. But much
of the criticism has been justified."
Yet in the same breath, he defends his son.
"For some strange reason, the people as well as the press
seem to think he's 42 years old," Earl Woods said. "He's
only 21. They cut him no slack for being inexperienced. It's difficult
for him to live up to this notion of being perfect."
Here is a list of when Woods has been less than perfect:
- Last fall, he backed out of a college awards dinner in his
honor. He later apologized and the dinner was rescheduled.
- He was quoted making off-color jokes in a GQ cover story
about him. Woods claims he told the reporter that the jokes were
off the record.
- After Woods' win in the Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller made some
racially insensitive remarks about the new champion. Zoeller,
who would lose endorsements over his comments, apologized profusely.
But Woods' camp left him hanging, taking three days to reply.
- In the aftermath of his victory at the Byron Nelson Classic
in May, Woods said he won despite only having his "C game."
The remark angered fellow players who thought he was belittling
them.
- He refused a request by fellow player Billy Andrade to autograph
an item that he planned to use for a charity auction. A 12-year
old then stepped up and offered Andrade an autographed ball he
had received from Woods a few years earlier.
- He stiffed the press following the first round of the U.S.
Open when he struggled with a 74. He eventually gave terse comments
to a pool reporter.
All told, the transgressions hardly come close to having Evander
Holyfield's ear for dinner. But Woods has much higher expectations
for himself and his image, and he is learning.
"With the media spotlight that I have been put under,
I cannot afford to make those type of mistakes," Woods said.
"I've been, in a sense, forced to grow up a little bit faster.
I've learned if I make a mistake, it's not only an internal problem,
it's also a global problem because everybody will know about it."
That's part of the price of Woods' immense popularity. With
the good also comes the fishbowl. Woods says Jordan has given
him advice on how to handle it.
Jordan, however, has stumbled from time to time, and it was
inevitable that Woods would too. The experts aren't surprised.
"It's a hard thing to be under the microscope the whole
time," said Art Taylor, who conducts sports research at Northeastern
University in Boston. "You and I can find our private time,
but he can't. Maybe he needs to know it is OK to not answer everyone's
request. But he has to find a way to do it more gracefully."
When Woods' actions have irritated his fellow players, they
have let him know. Following the "C game" comment, Brad
Faxon took him aside.
"Tiger is a pretty smart guy," Faxon said. "I
wasn't trying to pick on him. It was, 'Just watch it.' "
Following Woods' snub of the media at the U.S. Open, Jack Nicklaus
said he never shunned the press. Of Woods, Nicklaus said, "He's
young and he'll come to realize that (the media) can make or break
him in so many ways. Don't be too hard on him. He's young."
Those who know Woods stress that he still is a kid in many
ways. At news conferences, Woods comes off poised and in control,
giving the illusion that he is far beyond his years. But throw
him in with a bunch of his friends, and Woods can get as silly
and immature as any junior in college.
Trouble is, Woods isn't any junior in college.
"No 21-year old in the history of sports is going through
what he is going through," Earl Woods said. "What Tiger
is going through is breaking new ground."
After the U.S. Open problem, Earl Woods did sit down with his
son and lectured him on the importance of his relationship with
the media. As a result, Woods stopped to discuss his round the
final three days. Woods also resolved the situation with Andrade.
Earl Woods, however, says he is trying not to be too intrusive
with his son. He would rather have his son learn from his mistakes.
"I could prevent 90 percent of the mistakes," Earl
Woods said. "But then he wouldn't learn as much. He will
be that much better off because of this."
Earl Woods predicts the world will see a different Tiger over
the next two or three weeks. He couldn't indicate exactly how
so, other than to say that his son is learning.
"I made a suggestion to him the other day, and he said,
'Dad, I've already taken care of it,' " Earl Woods said.
"I said, 'Great.' That's when I knew the maturation process
was taking shape."
This isn't to say that Tiger Woods will suddenly become perfect
off the course. The missteps will come, just as surely as the
birdies and bogeys.
When the times get tough, Woods hangs on a piece of advice
that he has received from several celebrities.
"They've all said, 'No matter what we say, you're going
to have to find your own path. You're going to have to live through
this and find your own way,' " Woods said. "To me that
is more encouraging than anything else. Basically, what they're
saying is you have to suck it up and just go through it. You're
going to make some mistakes, and you're going to learn from them.
That's the whole idea."
(c) 1997, Chicago Tribune.
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