The Greatest Golfer of All time is Underrated
Tiger Woods: A Hated Legend
Perception of one of the world’s most famous athletes has never changed more than it has for Tiger Woods.
Once beloved by all fans and envied by all peers, today it seems as if Woods is more or less an outcast, not only by the game he once loved, but by the entire world.
In his prime, he was the most dominant figure in golf, and arguably in sports as a whole. 14 major championships in a 10-year span, 79 PGA Tour Victories, the richest man in sports for more than 8 years, and the first athlete to ever accumulate more than a BILLION dollars during his career.
Of all of the all-time greats in sports, Tiger Woods has undoubtedly faced the most hardship. Woods was the most marketable on the face of the earth for a decade, but today is arguably the most hated man in sports.
Even in his prime, Woods faced adversity — with countless injuries, a personality that was not liked by the media and his peers, and personal struggles, such as the passing of his father. Woods was strong enough that he could fight through the injuries, surgeries, new swing coaches, and media members and golfers not liking him, but the passing of his father pushed him into a search for something more.
Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, was the only person in the world who was close to Tiger. Earl’s death in 2006 took a huge toll on Tiger, and it threw him into a depression that made him acquire the characteristics that he hated about his father — his obsession with fighting and his addiction to sex.
In November of 2009, there was a claim that Woods had cheated on his wife with a New York City nightclub owner. Two days later, there was media coverage near his house in Florida, showing Woods in his wrecked Cadillac Escalade after hitting a tree, fire hydrant, and bushes. Soon after these events, more than a dozen women made claims about having affairs with Woods. Over the course of his five-year marriage, it is reported that Tiger had cheated on his wife with at least 120 women.
Woods’ scandal affected more than just his marriage — it was the start of an era where he was not relevant in the media or on the golf course. His misfortune included losing sponsorship deals with Accenture, AT&T, Gatorade, and General Motors, among others, and it was estimated that, due to his affairs, the shareholder loss was between five and twelve million dollars. On the golf course, Woods has yet to win another major tournament since his scandal. The fallout of Tiger Woods has sadly become relevant again, after he was arrested for driving while under the influence of prescription drugs. Woods admitted that due to the multiple injuries and surgeries throughout his career he had developed an addiction to these drugs.
It is hard to argue that any another athlete has fallen from stardom to hatred in a worse way than Tiger did. Yes, I can see how he is unlikable to many, if not most, but why do his mistakes overshadow what he has done for the game of golf, the world in sports, and the earth itself?
Tiger Woods isn’t all bad, and of course he has made mistakes, but his mistakes shouldn’t define who he is a person, and especially shouldn’t define who he is as a golfer. In my opinion, Tiger is the greatest golfer of all time, but I believe that, in 2017, his golf career is underrated because of his mistakes. Yes, I understand that it is hard to argue that the best golfer ever is also underrated, but it is valid. Nobody gives Tiger the respect that he deserves for how great his play really was, and what he did to change the game and make golf relevant again.
Tiger transformed golf. Before the scandal, he set the standard for how today’s professional golfer goes about their job. Not only did he display the greatest mental game of anyone who has ever played the sport, he changed the game forever by showing that golfers too are athletes, and added weight lifting as a vital part of golf. He showed dominance on the course in his prime that had never been seen before and will never be seen again. Woods showed the world how marketable athletes are, and at one pointed signed the most lucrative sponsorship deal in the history of sports. Tiger established his own charitable foundation when he first turned professional, which operates a $50 million learning center that helps underserved youth find college-access programs.
Tiger, throughout his life, has experienced many ups and downs, and is currently in another low point after checking himself into rehab. But I believe Woods will recover once again, and hopefully will make people remember him during his great years, and have them appreciate just how amazing Tiger Woods was and still is.
