I was in Milan for a tourism conference when Tiger delivered his mea culpa.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see it live, but I watched what I could bear of it when it was shown on Italian TV, with simultaneous\u00a0 translation turning Tiger\u2019s stilted recitation into a lilting monologue.\u00a0 Later yet, on CNN, the only English-language channel available at my hotel, I caught Larry King interviewing numerous experts and interested parties, including: a media coach, commenting on how well-served (not very, in his view) Tiger was to initiate such a staged event; a psychiatrist specializing in addiction treatment for celebrities, who said a \u201cthree to five year\u201d course of therapy was indicated for someone being treatment for Tiger\u2019s presumed condition; John Sallie, the ex-NBA player who is apparently is qualified to comment because he\u2019s an African-American former professional athlete who may have once faced the same sorts of temptations Tiger succumbed to; the wife of another ex-NBA player whom King described in his introduction as an \u201cadvocate for monogamy\u201d or words to that effect, a point of view affirmed when she said, apropos of Tiger\u2019s wife not attending the mea culpa, that while it was not up to her to judge Mrs. Woods\u2019 course of action, \u201cI would have been long gone;\u201d and Tim Finchem, the PGA Commissioner, who was the only person to witness the mea culpa in person, saying pretty much what one would expect\u2014that the Tour was doing just fine, thank you, but it would be nice having Tiger back.<\/p>\n
That Tiger\u2019s performance was regarded as so newsworthy is remarkable.\u00a0 I left Milano for China two days later, and saw that the English-language Asian newspapers available on the plane all played the story on page one, most with pictures.\u00a0 Barring the news media\u2014and as a long-time member I am proud of the Golf Writers Association of America for refusing to gnaw on the bone Tiger\u2019s handlers offered them, of a chance to send several members to sit in the audience to listen to Tiger read his speech but not to ask him any questions afterwards\u2014was, the expert on Larry King observed, a big mistake.\u00a0 In the long term, for people to believe in him again, Tiger will have to answer questions about his transgressions and his fall from grace.\u00a0 Perhaps he isn\u2019t ready yet, this early in his treatment, but that raises a bigger question: why stage the event in the first place, if he\u2019s too fragile to confront the press?\u00a0 Either he\u2019s close to returning to competition, and thus to public life and the scrutiny his celebrity brings, or he\u2019s still so psychically frail that he needs medical supervision, which suggests that he was not really ready to take his sins on in a public way.<\/p>\n
I found the whole event mortifyingly gloomy.\u00a0 I felt sad for Tiger\u2019s mom, sitting bravely in the front row.\u00a0 Her willingness to stand beside her son enhanced her while it diminished Tiger, a terrible dilemma for a loving mom.\u00a0 I am willing to believe that everyone who was there to listen to his confession was participating out of genuine affection for Tiger, some basic bond of friendship earned before his wings caught on fire.\u00a0 But that didn\u2019t make it any easier to watch, nor did it stimulate any sympathy for Tiger\u2019s predicament.\u00a0 If he was going to make a statement, he could have done so more effectively by simply talking directly to the camera, using the intimacy of television to connect once again with his fans and admirers, people who admire his accomplishments and marvel at his golfing genius.\u00a0 Asking him to play a role in a staged event\u2014a play, really\u2014that he was clearly not up to was a terrible blunder by his advisors.\u00a0 Tiger is miscast as a humble, beseeching penitent.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a part he can play with conviction, after years of inhabiting the role of a Clint Eastwood hero, chiseled, imperturbable and unconquerable.\u00a0 Humility requires conviction.\u00a0 Tiger was struggling to convince a skeptical audience that he\u2019s not crying wolf.\u00a0 When he said his wife would judge him by what he does in the future, I think it\u2019s fair to say she was speaking a universal truth.<\/p>\n
In an odd way, despite its failure as a performance, Tiger\u2019s first appearance did confirm that this is a man on a precipice, struggling to keep his balance.\u00a0\u00a0 It was less what he said than the fact that he needed a scriptwriter that showed his vulnerability.\u00a0 Was he brave to confess in such a public way?\u00a0\u00a0 In some ways, sure, but he also didn\u2019t have much choice in the long run.\u00a0 The evidence that his confession confirmed was pretty convincing from the start\u2014the smashed Escalade didn\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n
Will Tiger play golf again?\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 Will he win major championships?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Will he ever regain his place on Olympus?\u00a0 The Greeks understood the hero\u2019s temptation to preen in the wake of conquests.\u00a0 Such acts they found abhorrent, and they embodied this detestation in the notion of hubris. \u00a0Like a figure in a Greek tragedy, Tiger has risen too high and the gods have smote him (with some help from a temptress or two, but, hey, that\u2019s how the gods work).\u00a0 He will cling to the slopes, his achievements always admired, \u00a0but Tiger will never again stand on the summit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"