There’s an air of resigned déjà vu all over again. And while the news reports that surfaced last week about Tiger Woods’ alleged affair with fellow pro Jason Dufner’s (now former) wife, Amanda, may not be true, no one is giving the dominant player of the modern era any benefit of doubt. He has lied about sexual infidelity before and, unfortunately, his credibility in such matters isn’t exactly stellar. Here’s the gist of what the National Enquirer reported earlier this week: Woods was allegedly dating the 27-year-old Amanda Dufner (now Amanda Boyd) while in a relationship with Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, and that apparently played a part in the breakdown of Woods’ first public relationship since his much publicised divorce. The Dufners also pulled the curtains down on their three-year marriage in April this year citing, “an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage”, with no further details. Woods broke up with Vonn in May, only a few days after she made appearances on a series of American talk shows and spoke about Woods being a good boyfriend and father. The tabloid report claims that Vonn broke off the three-year relationship after learning Woods had been carrying on an affair with Boyd and adds that Woods flew her to Seattle when he played practice rounds at US Open venue Chambers Bay last month. Another tabloid, The Daily Mail Online had published a report in May this year that Woods was dumped by Vonn because she caught him cheating in February during the Farmers Insurance Open—just a week before Boyd and Dufner separated. Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg has branded the rumoured romance a ‘complete lie’. In an e-mail to Fox News, he said the claims were fabricated and false.
If true, then these allegations, while not as shocking as the scandal that in retrospect derailed Woods’ career, are even worse because they involve a fellow pro’s (now former) wife. While not close friends, Dufner and Woods have been part of the same Ryder Cup squad, and there’s a certain degree of camaraderie that the Ryder Cup naturally enshrines. Woods has never been hugely popular with his peers, and something like this is likely to isolate him even more so. The only thing lending credence to the possibility that the rumours are unfounded is that Woods’ game is finally looking up. At the pro-am of this weeks’ Greenbrier Classic, Woods played near flawless golf, hitting all fairways and greens in regulation. It’s no small measure of the pre-eminent golfer’s fall from the lofty heights he occupied in his prime that something which would have been pretty much taken for granted can evoke so much optimism in the golfing world. Just in case you haven’t been following his travails, Woods is now ranked a lowly 220 in the world, something practically unthinkable a few years back. He’s also failed to break 80 in three of the last 16 competitive rounds he’s played. That’s something he failed to do just once in his first 1,107 rounds as a professional.
And that included his dismal performance in the marquee US Open where he failed to make the cut for only the second time in his career. But you couldn’t have guessed it going by his demeanour: the Woods of yore would have refused to talk to the press after such a rout. Amazingly not only was he not sullen, but actually found some humour in the situation, quipping to reporters after the first round that “At least I kicked Rickie’s (Fowler) butt today.” Woods shot 80, Fowler shot 81. He also refused to offer any bizarre injury excuses—as he has in the past few months—inspite of a bad (and embarrassing) fall on one of Chamber’s Bay’s hillsides in which he appeared to have hurt his wrist.
Could it be that Woods has finally learnt to laugh at misfortune? And is a more pleasant Woods with a crappy game preferable to the ash-faced champion that he was? I’m not sure. There’s just no denying that no matter how his personal saga plays out, he is still the most important player of our generation, and a phoenix-like rise from the ashes would be, without doubt, the biggest feel-good story that the game has ever had.
Away from Woods, the US Open, which the USGA prides on calling the ‘most difficult test in golf’, didn’t really provide any feel-good moments. Chambers Bay had—clear even to television viewers—the most deplorable conditioning and the greens resembled nothing like what a venue of a tournament of this stature is expected to have.
Not surprisingly, a litany of woes exploded on social media from the players. No one, though, must have felt worse than the mercurial Dustin Johnson, who after playing wonderful golf for four days three-putted from 12 ft on the final hole to hand 22-year-old Jordan Spieth his second major title on the trot. Spieth is now a bonafide contender to Rory Mc Ilroy’s undisputed status as the top golfer in the world. He’s also polite to a fault and enjoys a ‘good boy’ public image. The youngster would do well to downplay the media’s tendency to project him as a role model: golf needs those and the media has a propensity to put top players on a pedestal. That makes a fall from grace that much harder. Just ask Woods.
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