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Tiger Woods, the Unraveling

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This is an excellent article digging deep into the mind of the once great golfer.

THE DECADE SEPARATING the cemetery in Kansas and the marina in the Bahamas has seen Tiger lose many of the things most important to him, and the more time passes, the more it's clear he left some essential part of himself there in the ground between Miles and Maude Woods. How did all he'd built come undone so quickly and so completely? That's the question that will shadow him for the rest of his life. The answer is complicated and layered. He fell victim to many things, some well-known and others deeply private: grief, loneliness, desire, freedom and his fixation with his father's profession, the military. These forces started working in Tiger's life almost as soon as his G-IV landed back in Orange County after he buried his father's ashes. The forces kept working until finally his wife found text messages from Rachel Uchitel on his phone and he ran his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant (that car, incidentally, is owned by a man in rural Arkansas, who bought it used from a local dealer, neither of whom knew its own secret history).

After Thanksgiving in 2009, his life split open in the most public and embarrassing way -- can you imagine having to talk about your sex life in a news conference with your mom in the front row? -- but that car crash wasn't the beginning of his unraveling. In an odd way, it was the end.

How Tiger Woods' life unraveled in the years after father Earl Woods' death
 
Yeah, this docu(the link below) you posted awhile back was a real eye opener. I don't have time to carefully read this article right now, I will read it later. But skimming it over and remembering what that docu said it's unbelievable what happened to Woods, and how FAST it all collapsed. He was maybe the most dominate athlete of a sport for a period of time in history. Sandy Koufax is another. Mike Tyson. Both dominated their sport then fell off, Koufax on his own terms, Woods and Tyson just completely F'ed up.

http://www.debatepolitics.com/sports-talk/245437-rise-and-fall-tiger-woods.html
 
Yeah, this docu(the link below) you posted awhile back was a real eye opener. I don't have time to carefully read this article right now, I will read it later. But skimming it over and remembering what that docu said it's unbelievable what happened to Woods, and how FAST it all collapsed. He was maybe the most dominate athlete of a sport for a period of time in history. Sandy Koufax is another. Mike Tyson. Both dominated their sport then fell off, Koufax on his own terms, Woods and Tyson just completely F'ed up.

http://www.debatepolitics.com/sports-talk/245437-rise-and-fall-tiger-woods.html

Yeah, the article delves deeper into Woods' psyche than the doc, which really just kind of laid out what happened. It's worth the read. I really enjoyed it.
 
Yeah, I just read it all.

Wow, his father dying sent Tiger into another dimension. He lost all sense of what he wanted, and who he was.
 
Yeah, I just read it all.

Wow, his father dying sent Tiger into another dimension. He lost all sense of what he wanted, and who he was.

If he ever had a sense, that is.

I found it odd that he could not sleep. THe man has demons.
 
We will never know the entire story. There are some things that people just do not let out.
 
Yeah, I just read it all.

Wow, his father dying sent Tiger into another dimension. He lost all sense of what he wanted, and who he was.

I'm not sure if he ever had a sense of 'self' - kids made famous at a young age usually have serious issues.
 
I'm not sure if he ever had a sense of 'self' - kids made famous at a young age usually have serious issues.

When he was younger I think he did. I think he wanted to be the best at golf, and wanted all the perks that come with that.. Money, women, fame...

But yeah, after his father died he seemed like his whole life he was going to dedicate to his father. It was like he wanted to become his father. IMO after his father died he lost sense of being 'himself'.
 
I haven't had time to read that article fully, but it looks good.

Tiger's last major championship, the 2008 US Open was otherwordly. You can call golf a game, or sport, I don't care. It was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen as he had to hole a birdie putt from off the green to tie and play another 18 holes the next day and a 3 hole playoff after that ended in a tie with Rocco Mediate. And he spent much of the tournament hobbled by a completely torn up knee to the point there the ligaments had actually pulled bone fragments off. And that was his stance knee. If anybody has swung a golf club with some skill, you know how important a strong left (if you are right handed) leg is on the downswing and follow through.

I had the thought to myself, man he just used every bit of his mojo to win that tourney...didn't know I was right though. And I still always hold out a little hope he rehabs and somehow gets back to winning. Golf is just better with him in the hunt, and I think it would be even more so if he could rise from the ashes and be competitive again. No one expects him to be like he was from 98-08. But I'd love to see him play the game like he used to.
 
I haven't had time to read that article fully, but it looks good.

Tiger's last major championship, the 2008 US Open was otherwordly. You can call golf a game, or sport, I don't care. It was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen as he had to hole a birdie putt from off the green to tie and play another 18 holes the next day and a 3 hole playoff after that ended in a tie with Rocco Mediate. And he spent much of the tournament hobbled by a completely torn up knee to the point there the ligaments had actually pulled bone fragments off. And that was his stance knee. If anybody has swung a golf club with some skill, you know how important a strong left (if you are right handed) leg is on the downswing and follow through.

I had the thought to myself, man he just used every bit of his mojo to win that tourney...didn't know I was right though. And I still always hold out a little hope he rehabs and somehow gets back to winning. Golf is just better with him in the hunt, and I think it would be even more so if he could rise from the ashes and be competitive again. No one expects him to be like he was from 98-08. But I'd love to see him play the game like he used to.

My hope is he makes a reasonable comeback, wins a few tournaments and competes for majors. But, I seriously doubt he will win any more of those with the fierce level of young competition we see out there nowadays.
 
If this article, and that Docu you posted awhile back is even 75% true. Tiger Woods is done. He'll be lucky to even win a minor tourny or 2. And he may never qualify for the US Open again(2018). The other majors he's exempt, but even those other majors,the way his life is now I can't see him going to for example, the British Open and playing there and looking foolish. That major is a bear, and his game is awful now.
 
If this article, and that Docu you posted awhile back is even 75% true. Tiger Woods is done. He'll be lucky to even win a minor tourny or 2. And he may never qualify for the US Open again(2018). The other majors he's exempt, but even those other majors,the way his life is now I can't see him going to for example, the British Open and playing there and looking foolish. That major is a bear, and his game is awful now.

He's getting older too. I believe that the article said he turned 40. So, any comeback now is remote, at best.

Also, his head is not right. The article made that clear. He needs to work on that, IMO, not golf. At least he gets a lot of joy out of his kids. That's a huge plus. I hope that part is true and not just fluff.
 
At least he gets a lot of joy out of his kids. That's a huge plus. I hope that part is true and not just fluff.

I bet he is a attentive father because IF he is imitating his father he's probably modeling himself after his father and copying that part of his father too. His father had faults, but he did spend a lot of time with Tiger, he took care of him, taught him, etc.
 
My hope is he makes a reasonable comeback, wins a few tournaments and competes for majors. But, I seriously doubt he will win any more of those with the fierce level of young competition we see out there nowadays.

I think its possible. There was a year recently where he actually won more tournaments than anyone else and competed in some of the majors.I feel like ever since his injury and separation from Steve Williams he does too much tinkering with his swing. It seems like whenever he comes back from an injury he's changed his swing too and then gets injured again. I feel like a lot of golfers tinker too much with their swings. I remember Padraig Harrington won two majors in a row then decided to make a swing change and he hasn't been the same since. I know you have to evolve your game at some point, but hell if its working, ride the wave until it runs out I say.
 
Yeah, I just read it all.

Wow, his father dying sent Tiger into another dimension. He lost all sense of what he wanted, and who he was.

I think to a certain degree this happened to Mike Tyson when Cus D'Amato died.
 
I think to a certain degree this happened to Mike Tyson when Cus D'Amato died.

Yeah. I don't think Tyson tried to live D'Amato's life.. But yes, absolutely. When D'Amato died Tyson loss all direction and had no one to guide him.
 
When he was younger I think he did. I think he wanted to be the best at golf, and wanted all the perks that come with that.. Money, women, fame...

But yeah, after his father died he seemed like his whole life he was going to dedicate to his father. It was like he wanted to become his father. IMO after his father died he lost sense of being 'himself'.

I think he was just loose of an overbearing 'make you the best' parent - and without being a child any longer all that money, women, fame did the number it does to all people who have it - it ****ed him over.
 
I think he was just loose of an overbearing 'make you the best' parent - and without being a child any longer all that money, women, fame did the number it does to all people who have it - it ****ed him over.

I also get the impression from the article that Tiger and his wife were not very close, not even friends. The piece indicates that Tiger relied on some of his mistresses for actual friendship more than just sex.

I find that to be extremely sad. My wife is my best friend. I cannot imagine being married to someone I cannot even talk to.
 
Nice article. It makes one wonder when a kid gets too much success at a young age.

I think he will eventually get over his father's passing- most people do. However, I dont think he will be in a position to break jack Niklaus's record though.
 
I also get the impression from the article that Tiger and his wife were not very close, not even friends. The piece indicates that Tiger relied on some of his mistresses for actual friendship more than just sex.

I find that to be extremely sad. My wife is my best friend. I cannot imagine being married to someone I cannot even talk to.

I've heard similar stories about other famous people, as well - like Chris Farley.

The book The Golfinch explores this passively - in the end Theo's engaged to a woman he doesn't love but seems to be okay with it because it gives him a sense of 'family'. . . which is strange but evidently even these days people don't just marry for love.
 
I also get the impression from the article that Tiger and his wife were not very close, not even friends. The piece indicates that Tiger relied on some of his mistresses for actual friendship more than just sex.

I find that to be extremely sad. My wife is my best friend. I cannot imagine being married to someone I cannot even talk to.

Well, let's face it. There's only 1 reason one of the most beautiful women in the world married him, he's famous, powerful, and has lots of money. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty good looking guy, but without the $100's of millions, and the name Tiger Woods a woman who looks like Elin doesn't give him a 1st look, let alone a 2nd look.

And the other side is, she's a gorgeous blonde, so we can be sure he didn't marry her for love either. Having a woman like that is the ultimate status symbol for powerful, rich men like him.

You are 100% right, a spouse should be your best friend. My wife is.

But with Tiger and Elin? I doubt love, or even like was involved.

elin-nordegren.jpg
 
Well, let's face it. There's only 1 reason one of the most beautiful women in the world married him, he's famous, powerful, and has lots of money. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty good looking guy, but without the $100's of millions, and the name Tiger Woods a woman who looks like Elin doesn't give him a 1st look, let alone a 2nd look.

And the other side is, she's a gorgeous blonde, so we can be sure he didn't marry her for love either. Having a woman like that is the ultimate status symbol for powerful, rich men like him.

You are 100% right, a spouse should be your best friend. My wife is.

But with Tiger and Elin? I doubt love, or even like was involved.

View attachment 67200475

Well it seems Tiger's dad was his best friend too. Growing up as a golf prodigy obviously had an adverse effect on his social skills, according to the article he hung out with his father's military friends than with people his own age while growing up.
 
Well it seems Tiger's dad was his best friend too. Growing up as a golf prodigy obviously had an adverse effect on his social skills, according to the article he hung out with his father's military friends than with people his own age while growing up.

Absolutely. His father was his best friend. And being around older people while growing up definitely stunted his social skills. Especially around women, he seemed very awkward and shy.

After his father died, his best friend died I would think he'd turn to his wife. But him going to other women to talk to, and for friendship? That speaks volumes about his marriage.
 
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