This week Tiger Woods made his return to the top of golf by winning the 2018 Masters. This is his 15th major championship and has been described as the most remarkable comeback in sports history.
You may not follow golf, but you surely are familiar with the name Tiger Woods. He is Sports’ first billionaire and also was the guy who was on the front page of the New Yoerk Post 20 days in a row during his sex scandal.
The Masters is arguably the most important golf tournament of the year and the fact that Woods was able to win this event is something worth talking about and most believed this would never happen. His woes began following his win at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008. During that event he played on a broken leg, but this was followed by 10 years of public and private pain due to four back surgeries, the chipping yips, a major scandal concerning sex addiction, the loss of nearly all of his corporate sponsors, a divorce, drunk driving arrests, and rehab stays.
And after all that this guy made it back to the top of the PGA at the age of 43. Golf Channel commentators kept referring to the “Tiger Effect,” which is the impact he has on those who play in his foursome. On this final day, he was paired with Francesco Molinari, referred to as “the Italian Metronome” because he is so consistent and also the best golfer ever produced by Italy. Lurking in the back were the best golfers on Earth, including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau, Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Xander Schauffele.
So exactly what is the “Tiger Effect?” Does he really mesmerize his opponents? I think the actual source of this palpable, impactful, psychologically devastating effect comes directly from his adoring fans, who happen to be the large majority of fans at any tournament Tiger Woods plays in.
As an example, I recall many years ago when I covered the Westchester Classic where Tiger Woods was playing. When I arrived, I immediately went to the driving range and could not believe what I witnessed. The range had more than 75 players hitting shots to warm up with not a single fan watching them with the exception of one guy. All the spectators were huddled behind one player trying to get a glimpse. I slowly inched my way up to the front, where I got my first experience of Tiger Woods hitting one perfect shot after another and with hundreds of fans watching in silent amazement at the sight of this.
His swing and the ball flight were something I had never seen before. And when he left the range to return to the club house, he had to have been encircled by a contingent of eight security guards, which slowly led him through the throngs of adoring fans yelling his name. I understood that in no way was this an ordinary player and how difficult it must have been to manage such adoration. It has always been my contention that his 10-year injury and scandal-ridden slump was self-induced in order to have a hiatus from all that love and admiration.
During the Sunday round at the Masters the “Tiger Effect” was on full display. Francesco Molinari would hit a wonderful 10-foot curving putt on those slick Augusta greens and when the ball dropped into the center of the cup, it was greeted with deafening silence. When Tiger Woods made a similar putt on that or any other hole, he was greeted with a roar from the crowd that literally shook the ground.
Guys like Brooks Koepka or Molinari are trained and hardened professionals yet it is difficult to ignore both the roars for Tiger and the silence that follows their shots. I treat athletes, actors and musicians and I have learned that one of the chief sources of stage fright is that a performance will be met with audience silence. And that’s just what the “Tiger Effect” is. I would recommend to his opponents that they wear earplugs when they play against him.
Tiger Woods is comparable to icons like Marilyn Monroe in film, Michael Jordan in basketball, Mikhail Baryshnikov in dance or Michael Jackson in music. These are the ones who have achieved perfection through a combination of God-given talent, hard work ethic, unquenchable drive and the brains to enlist support from others. Perfection and domination in their chosen field is an extraordinary thing to see and it is why so many fans follow Woods.
I have talked to and I have observed Tiger Woods and have felt his charm, his charisma and his tangible power. He gave the public a hint of where all his power comes from during a candid TV interview on the Saturday night prior to the Sunday finals. He was asked how he would be preparing for his early 9:20 a.m. tee time on Sunday. He casually remarked with a smile, “I will be getting up at 3:45 a.m. and go through my golf preparations in the gym with my trainers. It takes some time to warm up this old body.” All the while his competitors were snoozing comfortably under the sheets dreaming of victory, Tiger Woods was in the gym getting stretched and exercised with his team of trainers and coaches.
So if you happen to desire great fame or great love or a great deal of money, the answer is found by studying Tiger Woods. All you need to do is have the willingness to work endlessly hard for four decades, keep a team of support in place and voila, your wildest dreams will come true.
How amazing and wonderful for the sports world to witness the return of its ultimate master, the one and only Tiger Woods.
