The End of the Tigerian Era

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Friday, October 7. 2011

The End of the Tigerian Era

I was drifting around the TV one weekend back in '94. I blundered across the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, but, only being interested in the pros, I reached to click the remote.

But, well, the kid was about ready to hit his putt, and it's pretty rude to make any abrupt movements at that point, so I held off on the remote for a sec.

The ball rolled toward the hole a long 30 feet away. It rolled up a slight slope and veered to the left. It rolled up another slope and veered to the right. Then it veered to the left again. It crept right up to the hole...

and dropped in.

That was my introduction to Tiger Woods. I've rarely missed an event he's been in since.

A magnificent era in golf had begun...

Tiger Woods Falls Out of Top 50 in World Ranking

And now the era officially ends.

It's actually pretty strange, when you think about it. Okay, he has a big row with his wife, ending in divorce. Now, while I don't know for sure, I think it'd be a pretty fair bet that other famous athletes have had major blow-ups with their wives — but it didn't ruin their goddamn careers!

And for someone like Tiger, who's been playing since he was two, you'd think that his game would be so ingrained that, even if he were devastated by the tragedy of divorce — not to mention public humiliation — it would all still be there when he finally came around.

But, t'wasn't so.

This isn't meant to be any kind of 'tribute' to this legend. I'm just filing it under 'This Day In History' and moving on. The demise has been long in coming.

But there has never been a golfer quite like Mr. Woods. I saw Jack and Arnie and Lee and Chi Chi and Freddie pull off some amazing shots in their day, but Tiger was in a league of his own.

Update:

I, uh, wasn't planning on being my usual rude, snarky, pusillanimously pseudonymous self in this post, but there I was with my finger on the 'Save' button when suddenly this drifts in.

Well, okay.

If you insist.

Woods Set to Begin '2nd Career'

His ex-wife snapped this photo just last night:

Posted by Dr. Mercury in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 09:00 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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A good indication of how much of golf is in the mind. And part of Tiger's fall is that the false image of him as a good guy was knowingly sold to the public by the sports media which was afraid to criticize him.
If he'd been called to account for his dickish behavior earlier, maybe he wouldn't have imploded as spectacularly.

#1 BlogDog on 2011-10-07 09:30 (Reply)

A very good point, Herr Dog. If some reporter had exposed him after the first indiscretion, he would have told his fans, "Hey, it happens. Sorry, everybody!" and moved on. But after the string of beauties he's gone through (and those are only the ones who stepped forward), it's a little hard to say, "Hey, it happens!"

To who? Casanova? Don Juan?

Wilt Chamberlain??

As for the mental part of the game, just ask Tom Watson. One of the greatest golfers of his day, he suddenly gets the 'yips' while putting and his entire career goes into the tank? A 100% mental derailment.

#1.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-07 09:43 (Reply)

I agree. If I could ever wrap my head around the game and break 100, I'd be a happy man. I get off one gorgeous shot, then follow up with a slice off into a water hazard.

Anything that messes with your head can mess with your game.

But didn't Tiger also have physical problems? I've found that since my back problems started, my slice has been fixed - so sometimes physical issues can help the game if you're a duffer. In his case, I'm pretty sure he needs to be in better condition than me, and back problems (which he suffered) are often chronic.

#1.2 Bulldog on 2011-10-07 12:16 (Reply)

Maybe he's just tired of playing Golf. I've held a job for six years that I love passionately, but I'm transferring out mainly due to being burned out on it. How long has been swinging those silly sticks?

#2 Randy Rager (Link) on 2011-10-07 09:57 (Reply)

"Golf is a game played in the five inch space between your ears".

Bobby Jones

#3 Roy Lofquist on 2011-10-07 10:32 (Reply)

I'm a Mickelson fan. I acknowledge Tiger's greatness and respect his contributions, but I've always thought of him as a cold blooded killer on the course. I don't know that I have anything in common with Tiger Woods other than us both being bipedal humans living on planet earth. I'm confident that if I had a chance to have a beer with Phil, we could swap stories and tell tall tales.

I have no idea what goes on in Tiger's head. Golf is mental and physical, especially the way Tiger has been playing the game. For most great golfers, the intellectual challenge is "How do I minimize my flaws and maximize my gifts?". For Tiger, it was more like "I think it, therefore I do it."

Given the wreckage of his personal life, his age and his injuries the true test of greatness is yet to come.

#4 Steve C. on 2011-10-07 10:44 (Reply)

The 2009 Tour Championship. Now there was a golf story.

#4.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-07 11:25 (Reply)

It happens - at some point your luck runs out and you have to rely on skill. When the skills diminish, or physical infirmity interferes, you have to rely on luck. In either case, Woods still has a chance to be the greatest ever, but it is going to take luck, perseverance, patience (which I don't think he has) and getting his skill mojo back.

Having said that, I'd like to make three points if I may.

1 - It's golf - who cares?

2 - Growing men playing cow pasture pool is not a sport.

3 - See #1.

#5 Tom Francis on 2011-10-07 11:41 (Reply)

Hmm, tough guy, eh? Okay, take this:

Anyone who says what you did about golf either:

1. Hasn't played it
2. Or is too scared to

I gather you're a #2? Just a guess, of course.

Want more?

Okay, how about the discus toss or the javeline throw. These are official "sports" by your definition, right? So, the idea is to throw or toss the object as far as possible. That's how these sports are defined.

Well, tough guy, if that's the case, golf holds the Top Record.

A golf ball is the farthest man can hurl an object without resorting to external power. Nothing else even comes close. A long home run off the bat of Babe Ruth? Just a chip shot in golf.

So it appears that, by your reasoning, golf is an official "sport", and even holds one of sport's most exalted records.

Thanks for mentioning it. :)

#5.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-07 11:54 (Reply)

Discus or Javelin (not javeline) throwing aren't "sports". They are carry overs from pre-history when throwing a flat disc or spear in battle were paramount skills.

1 - I played golf for twenty five years.

2 - Before I gave up playing, I had an 8 handicap.

3 - The only reason I played is because it was handy for business reasons. I hated every second of it. In particular the part where, for sound practical reasons, you had to blow a 2 foot putt or hold down the power on the drive in order to let the visiting company president at least score even up if not win outright.

With respect to your assertion that a golf ball will travel farthest of ANY - that's true. However, I might also point out that:

1 - The golf ball is designed to do exactly that.

2 - What makes the golf ball fly are the dimples in the cover increasing the aerodynamic flow, the core compression factor and the winding. By design, a golf ball is 1.620 ounces with a maximum diameter of 1.680 inches to achieve a maximum of 250/fps by PGA rule. According to USGA rules, the maximum distance a ball can travel when hit by a titanium golf club at 120 mph is 317 yards.

A baseball is 9 to 9 1/4 inches in circumference and 5 to 5 1/4 ounces in weight by design with a maximum of 105/fps (wood bat) and 190.6/fps with aluminum bat. In theory, with all parameters being perfect, a standard baseball hit by a standard wooden bat would travel 564 feet - or 188 yards. If a baseball were designed to the same standard as a golf ball, the maximum distance it could achieve, using a wooden bat, is well over 1800 feet assuming the perfect delivery and perfect hit.

Two completely different balls doing two completely different things - one is a white dimpled one-piece Urethane covered, polymer layered rubber cored cue ball used in playing cow pasture pool and the stitched (216 stitches) white leather two-piece covered, cork center, wool wrapped ball used in playing a real sport.

Two different animals - or ball if you wish.

I stand by what I said - cow pasture pool. B O R I N G.

#5.1.1 Tom Francis on 2011-10-07 15:46 (Reply)

I view golf as one of the ultimate games.
1. You are pushing yourself to succeed, not making your opponent fail. In other sports, you're often seeking to make the opponent's defense break down.

2. It requires intense mental fortitude. One wandering thought and you're digging a ball out of the mud on the side of the water hazard. Or worse....(I was hit in the arm by an errant shot. Not fun.)

3. It requires some level of physical fitness. Sure, John Daly showed overweight hard drinking, hard living guys can have a level of success. But only briefly.

4. You need to know geometry and physics. Or at least have a feel for them. I know Tiger wasn't plotting angles, lift, and air speed. But he had an intuitive knowledge of what was required and what his body could do.

Hell. Putting all that together is so difficult, it's a wonder anybody plays the pro tour.

Teddy Roosevelt thought it was a silly sport. And Taft did look ridiculous running around in plus fours. But Payne Stewart made that fashion rock.

I know cheating is common among some golfers. But I've always found it ruins the intensity of the game, personally. I'll take a Mulligan if other players agree beforehand. But I don't like playing with people who move the ball around or limit a hold to double par. For God's sake, if you hit a 10 on a Par 3, man up.

It's a great sport. I just can't play often enough to get my score down.

#5.2 Bulldog on 2011-10-07 12:30 (Reply)

I hear all the physics/geometry/hand-eye coordination stuff from baseball players too.

Ain't true. Ever meet Manny Rameriz?

Case closed. Next. :>)

#5.2.1 Tom Francis on 2011-10-07 15:49 (Reply)

Perhaps, as each disappointing golf season slips past, the pressure on Tiger to break Jack Nicklaus's record is taking its toll on his game. It's strange, because when things were going well tournament after tournament, the young Tiger was the guy who thrived on pressure. Oh well, the Tiger is but a mere mortal instead of the god of golf. Maybe there's even an important lesson there for our golfing President, and I'm not referring just to his new favorite pastime.

#6 Agent Cooper on 2011-10-07 13:30 (Reply)

Does "Tigerian" rhyme w/ "Nigerian"?

Just curious.

#7 DrTorch on 2011-10-07 14:11 (Reply)

No, it's not a matter of "luck running out." Golf is not the equivalent of a coin toss. It requires, at Woods level, iron discipline and hyper-consistency. IMHO, I don't think it was the marriage break-up that has kept his game from returning to "normal." I'm sure the popping of the media-inspired image had an impact in the short term. But I suspect that the physical ailments have interrupted his program of preparation and execution.

Is this psycho-somatic, i.e. an "infirmity" fueled by his public humiliation? It could be true that the bad publicity and (I guess) personal anguish led to suspend his normal routine which resulted in a downward spiral ending in injuries. Who knows? But if the physical confidence returns and can be sustained, I wouldn't count him out completely re Nicklaus's record.

#8 boqueronman on 2011-10-07 14:53 (Reply)

Here's a fascinating short article by Charles Murray on why he believes Tiger won't make it to 19 major titles. The graphics of the relevant statistics are pretty persuasive to me.

http://www.american.com/archive/2010/july/why-tiger-wont-catch-jack

#9 Papa Rod on 2011-10-07 15:18 (Reply)

Doc Mercury,
You've piqued my interest, as an ole physics teacher.

Stipulating best in league, top of their game, how'd you rank the velocity of the object 0.1 second after object's release:

Fastball pitcher
Baseball batter
Golfer
NHL Slapshot
Javelin thrower
NFL Field goal kicker
NFL quarterback
Soccer free kick
Lacrosse throw
Fussball player
Billiards break
NBA dunk
Ping Pong smash
Boxing jab
Car behind me beeping once the light turns green
A neutrino walking into Obama's teleprompter
Chase charging my overdrawn check
Average date heading to the can when the check appears
Greece default and the breakup of the EU

I'd assign this to any grad student, but I'm guessing the answer would have something to with an ex-wife.

Your thoughts, Sir?

#10 Alear on 2011-10-07 20:42 (Reply)

Did you mean foozeball or fuzzball? A fuzzball is a black hole - which you probably knew. :>)

I can say fairly definitively that the speed of the following events:

Car behind me beeping once the light turns green
A neutrino walking into Obama's teleprompter
Chase charging my overdrawn check
Average date heading to the can when the check appears
Greece default and the breakup of the EU

would be about C² plus/minus a nano second.

#10.1 Tom Francis on 2011-10-08 00:39 (Reply)

Great list! Your mentioning the ex-wife, however, really skewed the results. Once you introduce females into the picture, everything else falls by the wayside.

How about, "The time it takes from my girlfriend to get jealous when I glance at a chick in a short skirt"?

#10.2 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-08 06:28 (Reply)

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Friday, October 7. 2011

The End of the Tigerian Era