Love Him or Hate him - Tiger Woods.

[bladehunter]

I was more of an Ernie fan up through mid 2000s.

 

I started liking Tiger more after 2009, when all the bleepety bleeps came out of woodwork with their morality judgements.

 

Amen. I’m more of a fan of the killer attitude and the flawed person hat has overcome than if he were able to hide his anger , mistresses and other short comings like some have done.

 

Always been a fan of his “ me against the world “ mentality. I totally believe it’s what caused him to be great. You can’t be that dominant when worrying about offending others. Jack is just as arrogant. He’s just a smidge better at hiding it. But if you read between the lines he always let you know.

[hogans71]

"i apologize if this has been discussed"

 

lol

 

 

File under "not enough TW threads on the first page of Tour Talk"...

[Nard_S]

I'm somewhat forgiving of guys like him 'the super stars' of their world. How is someone supposed to be normal when your a phenom and on TV at 2 for it? So I'm agnostic about personality and on/off course character. He's clearly the best thing since Jack and in some respects better than the Bear ever was. Dude checks all the boxes. So, he's back, he's healthy & for the 1st time in several years his head looks screwed on straight. I hope he gets to 19. Be the best story in sports since the US beat the Russians in 1980 or Patriots going 6 for 8 in Super Bowls. :)

[Medic]

Admire the talent. Would like to see him make a cut or two and possibly even win again.

 

But IMHO Jack's record is completely safe. That ship has sailed......

[Phreddy]

It always makes me sad when an elite athlete sticks around too long and is a shadow of their former greatness particularly, as is often the case with boxers, who are simply doing it for the last grasp at money. I am fairly certain that money is not the motivation with Tiger.

 

I would love to see him play the game with joy, win a couple tournaments and be in the conversation on a Sunday at a major. That is asking a lot.

 

I have tremendous respect for his golf accomplishments. The man, not so much. But, then again, I've never had to walk in his shoes.

 

So I can't really check either box, but I am very curious to see how it plays out.

 

Phred

[youngwaldo]

What he did for the game was great.

 

Wk

[Titleist 670]

I have no issue with Tiger the golfer. His dominance was incredible, and I hope he plays well again. I was as big a Tiger fan as there was during his prime.

 

I found the scandal interesting and unexpected, but that in and of itself didn't make me dislike him. But some of the explanations he gave for it were borderline embarrassing, particularly the Golf Channel interview when he was wearing a Buddhist bracelet and blamed straying from the Buddhist path for his infidelity. And since then it feels like it's been a lot of hot wind from him about a variety of topics.

 

Post scandal, it's just felt like years of the same old story over and over again - he's hurt, he's back, he's hurt, he's back, he's working on a new swing, he hasn't been getting enough reps, he hasn't been playing enough, he's focusing on his kids.....and on and on and on. He's constantly changing his story - every time seems like THE time, or so he says, he's finally healthy. And then when it's not, the cycle repeats.

 

How many times do we have to hear how great he's hitting it at the range, or what his "good friend" Notah Begay thinks of him? It's been 4 years of that. And prior to that, in 2010, 2011, 2012, it was all about the Foley swing until he finally really broke through in 2013.

 

It's a circus. That doesn't mean I'm rooting against him, I just want him to play on a consistent basis and be done with this nonsense. If he's hurt and can't play, fine. But don't come back later and say how you're "finally healthy" again and the last time you said that you didn't really mean it.

 

And I've never understood the obsession with Tiger the person, from the standpoint that people think there's this warm teddy bear inside who would be their best friend if they ever got the chance to meet him. If anyone says anything negative about him, they get the lectures "oh you've never made mistakes???" "do you know him personally?? no?? then you have no clue" "are you his doctor? no? then don't talk about his injury" and then these same people will tell you what a great father he is, or how his relationship with Lindsey Vonn is so wonderful and he's "finally happy" (then they break up a month later), or give you details on how Earl's death is currently impacting his play, even though they've never met the guy before. Anything positive seems to be true, anything negative is not and you're a "hater". It's bizarre.

 

That said, I actually was encouraged by his swing at the Hero and a lot of the shots he hit, so I'm hoping he can play a fairly consistent schedule this year. But that hasn't happened in a long time, so we'll see.

[shifu]

I love his game on the golf course, but not his life/decisions off the course.

[PGArox]

I must admit when Tiger was in his dominant prime, I really was not a fan, and that was mostly due to the fact that I was a Phil phan. Tiger sucked all the air out of the room, as it were.

 

Now that both Tiger and Phil are well out of their primes I have gradually begun to warm to Tiger ever so slightly. He is such a historically significant athlete, when you watch him you are witnessing a big part of history.

[Titleist 670]

I must admit when Tiger was in his dominant prime, I really was not a fan, and that was mostly due to the fact that I was a Phil phan. Tiger sucked all the air out of the room, as it were.

 

Now that both Tiger and Phil are well out of their primes I have gradually begun to warm to Tiger ever so slightly. He is such a historically significant athlete, when you watch him you are witnessing a big part of history.

 

Funny - I was a Phil fan in the mid to late 90's, but a bigger Tiger fan and I got the impression that Tiger felt Phil was a bit of a phony, and I thought so to a degree as well.

 

I've enjoyed that Tiger has mellowed over the last few years and that he and Phil seem to get along well, even tough they are clearly different people. And my feeling that Phil was phony gradually eroded - I never rooted against him, but I thought all the smiles and thumbs up seemed rather robotic and disingenuous for awhile.

[lowheel]

"i apologize if this has been discussed"

 

lol

 

The prodigal son has returned!!!!! welcome back

[lowheel]

I must admit when Tiger was in his dominant prime, I really was not a fan, and that was mostly due to the fact that I was a Phil phan. Tiger sucked all the air out of the room, as it were.

 

Now that both Tiger and Phil are well out of their primes I have gradually begun to warm to Tiger ever so slightly. He is such a historically significant athlete, when you watch him you are witnessing a big part of history.

 

Funny - I was a Phil fan in the mid to late 90's, but a bigger Tiger fan and I got the impression that Tiger felt Phil was a bit of a phony, and I thought so to a degree as well.

 

I've enjoyed that Tiger has mellowed over the last few years and that he and Phil seem to get along well, even tough they are clearly different people. And my feeling that Phil was phony gradually eroded - I never rooted against him, but I thought all the smiles and thumbs up seemed rather robotic and disingenuous for awhile.

 

I have a similar experience with Phil and and even Arnie.I was told by many they were phonies and fakes and after a while I started to feel the same way.Enter the 1997 bay hill tourney.I was down there caddying for a friend who was trying to monday qualify.When he didnt make it we got free passes to the tourney all 4 days so we decided to stay.Phil won going away playing like a psycho of course.He took driver off the deck on 16 and hit the par 5 in 2 when he didnt even have to. After the ceremony I stood there and watched and snapped off some pics while Phil and Arnie signed for everyone for 1 and a half hour. I was blown away. Arnie was talking to every single person he was signing for and so was phil. it put a dent in my theory about them. fast forward almost 10 years later i ended up working a few canadian skins games and something that blew me away even more about Phil happened.After one of the skins games he lined up all 35 volunteers, pulled out a gangster roll of 100s and gave one to each person and thanked them. 2 years later there he was doing the same thing. if hes acting then give him multiple oscars because hes denzel level good. My friend played with arnie at bay hill right around 2000 in one of his morning money games and when he beat him arnie handed him his driver signed the face and gave it to him without my buddy asking him for anything. he had it framed and its in his mancave. ive heard way too many stories like that to believe its an act. i think these guys love the rock star status and love giving their time to people who admire them because they helped them so much on the course and off it. I wonder if tiger ever felt as comfortable in his own skin as those 2 or if he even had any fun while on top.

[soregongolfer]

I can't separate Tiger the golfer from Tiger the man. I used to love him but now I find him despicable.

[straightshot7]

Do you really think people are going to be able to separate "the golfer" from the person?

 

May as well just make it love or hate "Tiger", period.

 

Edit: Case and point the poster above

[ebrasmus21]

Tiger was legitimately my hero growing up. I was 9 when he won the '97 Masters and I watched that tournament with my grandfather (the only golfer in my family). From that point on I was hooked on golf. I read every book on Tiger I could get my hands on and I had two posters and two framed photos hanging up on the wall in my bedroom. Tiger was truly my hero.

 

It cut me deep when his personal escapades became public because it was such a different Tiger than what I had grown up idolizing. That was a sad time for true Tiger fans...

 

I hope Tiger does well and stays healthy from here on out. I hope he is happy in his life and I hope he still has the drive to take a shot a Jack's record. I think it is a true long-shot to winning anymore majors but I still wish Tiger well.

[80sFredriksson]

Always loved his golf game, some of the most exiting golf ever played, so yeah I am huge fan. His personal flaws that has been exposed in recent years just makes him human and has not changed my oppinion.

[Steele47]

Always loved his golf game, some of the most exiting golf ever played, so yeah I am huge fan. His personal flaws that has been exposed in recent years just makes him human and has not changed my oppinion.

 

 

Well I would say he's overly human then.

[bscinstnct]

I can't separate Tiger the golfer from Tiger the man. I used to love him but now I find him despicable.

 

 

[sevenputts]

I'm a fan.

[bladehunter]

I can't separate Tiger the golfer from Tiger the man. I used to love him but now I find him despicable.

 

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

 

man... i wanted to say something about all the people who are so offended by Tigers personal issues...But the Daffy Duck /Buggs analogy pretty much sums it up... Oh to have grown up in a sheltered environment so that i may be able to ride atop the high horse of morality.. how sweet it must be.

[DrunkenTiger]

good there are a lot less haters than fans.

[mukster]

good there are a lot less haters than fans.

 

I think the "haters" simply just avoid thread no. 2331 about Tiger and read other stuff.

 

"haters" :derisive:

[JerseyBoy]

I grew up watching him and it was spectacular. He changed the game of Modern Golf and is responsible for all of today's Golfers making what they make on Tour, money and sponsorship wise.

 

Hate him for his personal woes, but Golf wise, he is untouchable.

[Divot2]

YUUGGEEE fan of Tiger! Great for the game and is an unbelievable golfer. Changed the game forever for the better. Will be pulling for him to have a great year and a few more majors!

[Lagavulin62]

I think he should open his mind and spice his life up a bit. Why the boycott of hot latino and black chicks?

[deadsolid...shank]

I “appreciate” him. It’s hard not to admire the greatness, the shots he’s hit. And personally, I really don’t care about his off course behavior. It’s much less offensive than what numerous athletes from other sports do. And I like his fire and passion on the course, he’s far from robotic.

 

Two things have always had me rooting against him however. First, when he was at his best, if he was in the lead on Sunday, why even watch? Everyone else was going on the tank, there was little to no drama tournament wise. Much like they used to say about Jack, “he knows he’s going to beat you, you know he’s going to beat you, and he knows you know “( I know that’s not exact, but close enough). With Tiger, we all knew it too, wasn’t much point in watching.

 

Secondly, like Robin said. The media obsession is too much. My goodness, on Morning Drive this morning, how many times has Damon talked about him. I realize he is “it”when it comes to golf, but it’s just too much for me.

[Dave230]

This poll right here is the Tiger problem in a nutshell. You're either a lover or a hater. Myself, and I'd say a lot of people, are neither.

 

Things I like about Tiger:

 

- Tiger was the man when I started watch golf and made it cool. He was the face of every golf video game, and was just Mr Golf in the 2000s

- There was nobody more thrilling to watch, and I still get a real kick out of watching the old YouTube videos of his best shots

- His achievements are incredible, and there is an immense respect for that. He is one of the best competitors in any sport ever

- He transcended the sport, he is the only golfer that everybody knows, he is the only golfer that non-golfers are consistently interested in

- The story of his career is incredibly interesting, with his father and an African-American/Asian playing what was seen as a white man sport, from dominance to fall with the sex scandal.

 

Things i don't like about Tiger

 

- Not really his fault, but he brings a circus to every event, all other players get neglected, and I don't think that's healthy for golf in the long-run. The media removes all pretence of bias when they cover him now

- Everybody has their private life problems but Tiger was hardly the most admirable guy off-the-course to put it mildly

- 'Steiny', Stevie (not any more) and his whole entourage. Steinberg can be very brash, and his consistent spinning of the Tiger narrative can be irritating

- Some of Tiger's on-course behaviour ie spitting, swearing, some rudeness with media has left a lot to be desired.

 

Overall - I can't answer the question. I am glad Tiger is back and I would love to see him play well, but at the same time, he will never be among my favourites and the oversaturation of coverage irritates me.

[starsail85]

Love him as a golfer . Don’t really care about him personally , but it doesn’t bother me 0.1% that he cheated on his wife . There are WAY worse things than that in life get over yourselves

[XYB34A]

I am from the south. My father is a preacher, (well was) Southern Baptist even. Prejudice was not allowed in our household. I started playing golf as a thing to make money. Take clients out pay for golf, buy them some stuff. Get purchase orders for big house packages. I worked on commission for Lowe's selling to contractors for almost 25 years. I made pretty darn good money. And had a lot of fun doing it. I started playing full time in 1985, by that i mean every Saturday and Sunday after church. And would go hit balls at a driving range just down the road from work. I just liked the fact that I could knock the crap out of it. I had played baseball since I was 9 and hitting your driver a long way felt like hitting a homerun. You could basically hit 14 homeruns every time you played, vs hitting one every couple of games in baseball. On average.

Golf was a quiet sport, people were polite. Sure there were slow players, and people that got mad. I got a brand new ping putter once when I saw a guy throw it in a pond. I went back about dark and waded around up to my neck in water till i found it with a bare foot.

Then Tiger Woods came along. And by the way, I distinctly remember watching Tiger Woods as a 2 year old or thereabout on Mike Douglas show in the 1970s. So I had heard of him a long time before he won the Masters. What happen, and remember. I am from KY and lived in South Carolina most of the 1980s. And worked in WV twice for about a year and half both times. All to sell building materials to big contractors and commercial projects. My specialty was churches. Wonder why?

So not long after the Masters. within 6 weeks at the very most. People started showing up at all the golf courses. Ky is know for Semi-private clubs. And for some kinda ritzy ones. That keep the prices high to keep the riff raff out. So you would see these guys, with clubs that you can buy at Pawn shops. Or play it again sports. They would have used shoes, and of course lots of BEER.

So people starting hollering 3 fairways over, if they saw there buddy they would stand on the cart and yell at the top of their lungs. I was playing in a match play club championship tourney. I had gave 14 strokes to a guy. We were all even with 3 holes left to play. I had a chip to get on in three and the guy was laying 4 on the edge of the green. I had to just chip and make a par, him two putt and I was up on the match. One of these guys pulled up in a cart just as i started to chip, and hollered at a buddy. HEY WAIT UP FOR ME. My chip went flying sideways hit a tree, bounced into some crap and I wind up making 6. Lost the hole. I was totally pissed off. I am a big man, 6"3 and I wear 3xl tall shirts. Like a lineman in the NFL.

I lost the match, and then well i went and said a few things about manners and proper etiquette. And i wasnt very nice about it. As a matter of fact I was an a******. The guy that I was playing with, was shocked. He said I didnt know you had that kind of language in you. About a year later, I saw these same three guys at a golf course in the next county. Lo and behold. They were wearing decent golf clothes. The beer cooler was gone. They had a lot better clubs. I went to them in the parking lot and apologized. They told me, that it had been a wake up call for them. That while they still thought i was an a******. That they understood.

But hear is the thing. Most of the golfers on here, say, I admired him (tiger) when i was in school. The older you get, the more things change. One day all you folks that are born after 1981, or after 2002. Will have children and grandchildren. And will just as feed up with the crap that goes on as us older people are now. I have been a member here for 12 years. I actually joined in 2005 but had a computer that got a bad virus and did not get another one for a year or so. My original membership didnt work after a while.

Golf tourneys in the 70s and the 80s and early 90s were much different. I was a CHI CHI fan. The showed the leaders back then, not Tiger Woods in 18th place every shot. I mean come on, I want to see the leaders, not some guy in the middle of the pack because he endorses some kind of crap. I HATE Commercials, hate endorsements. And I play clubs, because I like that club, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

Did anyone ever think that the reason golf is going down hill is because Golf Channel, CBS, NBS, ABC, all shove Tiger Woods down our throats. I hate the Frigging Patriots too because they have hints of cheating and because they have been in the Super Bowl so many times. Not Counting the murderer they hired to play with them.

 

Sorry one guy that is on the down hill slide to 60. That started out playing Ram laminated Driver 3 and 5 wood, and a set of Ram irons that came from Sears. I play old school stuff, because, I think the new stuff has built in crutches in them. I am a big Titleist fan, but the Maxfli Balata Hi trac was the finest ball ever made.

 

I have watched Tiger Woods play great golf. But his personal life is more an example of a narcissistic person that anything else. Surprise everyone, well every male on this site puts his pants on the same way that I do every morning. NO one is better than anyone else. You might play golf better, drive a faster or prettier car. I drive a truck. But when it comes down to the end, when we stand to meet our maker. Then everyone is the same. No matter what.

[bscinstnct]

I am from the south. My father is a preacher, (well was) Southern Baptist even. Prejudice was not allowed in our household. I started playing golf as a thing to make money. Take clients out pay for golf, buy them some stuff. Get purchase orders for big house packages. I worked on commission for Lowe's selling to contractors for almost 25 years. I made pretty darn good money. And had a lot of fun doing it. I started playing full time in 1985, by that i mean every Saturday and Sunday after church. And would go hit balls at a driving range just down the road from work. I just liked the fact that I could knock the crap out of it. I had played baseball since I was 9 and hitting your driver a long way felt like hitting a homerun. You could basically hit 14 homeruns every time you played, vs hitting one every couple of games in baseball. On average.

Golf was a quiet sport, people were polite. Sure there were slow players, and people that got mad. I got a brand new ping putter once when I saw a guy throw it in a pond. I went back about dark and waded around up to my neck in water till i found it with a bare foot.

Then Tiger Woods came along. And by the way, I distinctly remember watching Tiger Woods as a 2 year old or thereabout on Mike Douglas show in the 1970s. So I had heard of him a long time before he won the Masters. What happen, and remember. I am from KY and lived in South Carolina most of the 1980s. And worked in WV twice for about a year and half both times. All to sell building materials to big contractors and commercial projects. My specialty was churches. Wonder why?

So not long after the Masters. within 6 weeks at the very most. People started showing up at all the golf courses. Ky is know for Semi-private clubs. And for some kinda ritzy ones. That keep the prices high to keep the riff raff out. So you would see these guys, with clubs that you can buy at Pawn shops. Or play it again sports. They would have used shoes, and of course lots of BEER.

So people starting hollering 3 fairways over, if they saw there buddy they would stand on the cart and yell at the top of their lungs. I was playing in a match play club championship tourney. I had gave 14 strokes to a guy. We were all even with 3 holes left to play. I had a chip to get on in three and the guy was laying 4 on the edge of the green. I had to just chip and make a par, him two putt and I was up on the match. One of these guys pulled up in a cart just as i started to chip, and hollered at a buddy. HEY WAIT UP FOR ME. My chip went flying sideways hit a tree, bounced into some crap and I wind up making 6. Lost the hole. I was totally pissed off. I am a big man, 6"3 and I wear 3xl tall shirts. Like a lineman in the NFL.

I lost the match, and then well i went and said a few things about manners and proper etiquette. And i wasnt very nice about it. As a matter of fact I was an a******. The guy that I was playing with, was shocked. He said I didnt know you had that kind of language in you. About a year later, I saw these same three guys at a golf course in the next county. Lo and behold. They were wearing decent golf clothes. The beer cooler was gone. They had a lot better clubs. I went to them in the parking lot and apologized. They told me, that it had been a wake up call for them. That while they still thought i was an a******. That they understood.

But hear is the thing. Most of the golfers on here, say, I admired him (tiger) when i was in school. The older you get, the more things change. One day all you folks that are born after 1981, or after 2002. Will have children and grandchildren. And will just as feed up with the crap that goes on as us older people are now. I have been a member here for 12 years. I actually joined in 2005 but had a computer that got a bad virus and did not get another one for a year or so. My original membership didnt work after a while.

Golf tourneys in the 70s and the 80s and early 90s were much different. I was a CHI CHI fan. The showed the leaders back then, not Tiger Woods in 18th place every shot. I mean come on, I want to see the leaders, not some guy in the middle of the pack because he endorses some kind of crap. I HATE Commercials, hate endorsements. And I play clubs, because I like that club, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

Did anyone ever think that the reason golf is going down hill is because Golf Channel, CBS, NBS, ABC, all shove Tiger Woods down our throats. I hate the Frigging Patriots too because they have hints of cheating and because they have been in the Super Bowl so many times. Not Counting the murderer they hired to play with them.

 

Sorry one guy that is on the down hill slide to 60. That started out playing Ram laminated Driver 3 and 5 wood, and a set of Ram irons that came from Sears. I play old school stuff, because, I think the new stuff has built in crutches in them. I am a big Titleist fan, but the Maxfli Balata Hi trac was the finest ball ever made.

 

I have watched Tiger Woods play great golf. But his personal life is more an example of a narcissistic person that anything else. Surprise everyone, well every male on this site puts his pants on the same way that I do every morning. NO one is better than anyone else. You might play golf better, drive a faster or prettier car. I drive a truck. But when it comes down to the end, when we stand to meet our maker. Then everyone is the same. No matter what.

 

 

"Tiger's better"

 

-Lee Trevino

 

 

Kidding, kidding. I usually don't read long posts but I like yours. Thanks for sharing.