Dave Hyde: You root for Tiger Woods, at 50, to find his way
Published in Golf
The name of Tiger Woods’ organization that helps kids is the TGR Foundation, and it has a mandate to offer educational programs and learning labs so students can “find and follow their passions on their path to a brighter future,’’ its website says.
The phone just rang at one of its offices Tuesday, and rang, at a time its founder needs help finding that brighter future. And let’s be clear: If you rooted for Woods as a golf legend in his youth, you root for him now, at 50, when he’s having trouble just navigating the road in front of him to the point someone should take away his car keys.
That’s where any help for Woods should start. His family and friends shouldn’t let him drive again, even if he legally is allowed. Not until his problems are solved, his demons gone.
No one knows the extent of his problem with prescription pills, only that it’s a repeated part of these accidents. The officer at the scene of his accident last week reported Woods appeared under the influence of something and prescription opioids were found in his pocket, according to police records released on Tuesday.
The significant news — after he swerved in the road, rolled his Land Rover on its side on Jupiter Island and had to be helped from the car — is he walked away. The driver in front of him whose truck was damaged by Woods’ driving also walked away. So a bad story wasn’t a tragic one.
Just like in 2021 when Woods rolled his SUV while driving more than 80 mph and suffered severe leg injuries that required surgery.
Just like in 2017 when he was found asleep at the wheel in Jupiter at 3 a.m., stopped in a traffic lane with his Mercedes-Benz running and multiple prescription drugs in his system, according to toxicology reports.
Just like in 2009 when his personal problems first became public after he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant on the street and then a tree in a neighbor’s yard near Orlando.
It’s not hard to imagine another day, when Woods doesn’t walk away from one of these accidents or some innocent bystander is in the wrong place when Woods loses control of the car. He wouldn’t be remembered just as some great golf legend if that happens.
He’d be remembered as a killer, too.
That needs to be said after as his violent accidents (four) approach his Masters wins (five).
The past few days’ fallout is a long way from any somber scene like that. Golfers like Kevin Kisner offered concern at the PGA stop in Houston that Woods’ accident might prevent him from making his scheduled return to The Masters next week.
His ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, is concerned for him, according to People Magazine. His girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, was furious, according to an internet site. Trump’s former husband, Donald Jr., is thankful their five children weren’t in the car, according to another internet site.
Tiger’s life has become a soap opera kept alive by his golfing fame. That’s the world around him. The question is if it’s actually part of him, too.
It seems self-awareness and honesty are part-time jobs for Woods these days. Maybe he shouldn’t worry about this Masters tournament or any other return to golf right now.
Or maybe golf can be a great friend to him, showing him the path to that bright future his foundation talks about. That’s where some self-awareness and a good friend could help.
Woods’ issues sure appear fixable. He has the means to get the best help. People across all walks of life have pull their lives out of similar trouble.
But navigating life, at 50, has become a lot more difficult for him than reading the 18th green for the win a couple of decades ago. He’s not the first sports icon to discover that.
Woods always was one of the smartest golfers to win like he did. But he hasn’t been smart enough to stop repeating the trouble with car accidents.
Maybe this latest one does that. You root for him that way. No one wants another accident, on another day, where someone doesn’t walk away.
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