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By Tayo Ogunbiyi
I don’t really fancy the game of golf. It looks somehow too elitist. For me, football, boxing, basketball, wrestling, athletics and Rugby, among others, are more fascinating sports. But then, the personality, competitiveness and successes of American Tiger Woods endeared me to golf.
For years, Woods was the face of golf. In 1997, he brought world focus to the sport when he won his first Masters by a record 12 shots. As a result of this feat, golf players became fitter, prize money increased while awareness of the game swelled considerably. Without a doubt, Woods has been to golf what the likes of Pele, Maradona, Messi and Christiano Ronaldo are to football. In contemporary time, Woods has given golf a breadth of fresh air, something refreshingly exciting.
Naturally, it wasn’t quite long before Woods began to swim in fame and wealth. Major sponsors began to queue behind themselves to have him endorse their products. Soon, the great golfer became superbly rich and famous. Meanwhile, as Woods was doing well for himself, the game of golf was equally making wave. People of all ages, across the globe, became more attracted to golf as a result of Wood’s larger than life public image.
But then, suddenly and like an overblown balloon that suddenly dissolves in the air, Woods world came crashing without giving any sign, at least to the public. It all began in 2009. Early that year, at the US PGA, the legendary golfer had failed to seal the win for the first time in his major career, losing to South Korea’s YE Yang. Unknowingly, that was just the beginning of years of many troubles for Woods. As they say, when trouble comes it comes in droves.
Later in 2009, news of a great brawl between Woods and his wife, over alleged extra marital affairs, broke out. There were reports of Woods storming out of their home in Florida, in obvious rage, and hitting his car on an object in a dramatic road crash that was to open the floodgate of more troubles for Woods. Found asleep at the wheel of his car at the side of a road in Palm Beach, Florida, pictures and dash cam video of a perplexed and bewildered Woods were flashed around the world. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was put on a diversion program, but from that lowest point, Woods’ descent has just begun.
Before long, women of all shapes, heights and colours began to come into the open to expose tales of diverse sexual escapades with the golf megastar. One thing led to the other, a bitter divorce suit between him and his estranged wife followed and eventually, Woods nearly lost all his earnings from the game he loved so much. Rapidly, things blossomed into a case of ‘One Week, One Trouble’ for the iconic sports star. His world was crashing fast! Not even his legendary dexterity in the golf course could save him.
Major sponsors started revoking their sponsorship deals with Woods on moral grounds. Suddenly, they felt the guy was no longer representing the interest of their respective outfits well. Chroniclers were already penning a narrative that captured the details of ‘The Rise and Fall of the Great Tiger’. Yes, Woods, the iconic sporting personality, whom every young chap had wanted to be like, had abruptly fallen from grace to grass. In a twinkling of an eyelid, he had lost it all!
Wounded and embittered, Woods tried hard to get his way back to becoming the great golfer he used to be, but it was never to be. In 2013, his problem became compounded as a fearful back injury that nearly truncated his golfing career resurfaced. Many wrote off his career as the injuries took their toll on his form. His world ranking plunged so significantly that he dropped from formerly being World number one to being outside the top 1,000! At last, a star has dimmed. So, we all thought.
But then, as it is often said, it is not over until it is over. Yes, that was the astonishing account of Woods’ recent comeback that has continued to resonate across the world. A few days back, the Tiger roared back in style to global reckoning Woods clinched his fifth Masters and 15th major title to seal one of the greatest comeback stories in global sporting history. The 43-year-old braved his way through a closely filled leader board to win by one shot at Augusta for his first major title in 11 years and first Masters win since 2005. Earlier, in 2017 Woods had undergone career-saving spine fusion surgery and sealed an impressive comeback season in 2018 with his first win for five years.
And suddenly, the world remembers Woods again. Characteristically, maverick American President, Donald Trump, took to twitter to ‘celebrate a great sportsman’. Also, Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, dubbed his comeback a ‘dramatic one’. NBA star Steph Curry called it “the greatest comeback story in sports,” while tennis legend Serena Williams said she “was in tears” and said it was “greatness like no other.” Till date, showers of praises have continued to pour in for this Tiger, who has just gotten out of the wood.
The main lesson in the Woods trajectory is that nothing is too strong to stop a determined and focus person. But for his rugged determination to keep forging ahead and not to take to pity party, Woods would have become history by now. One only hopes that upcoming sports folks and, indeed, all folks across the world would learn from his exceptional experience to always turn adversity to advantage.
•Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
[The Guardian]
