by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
We’ve officially seen the end of an era. The great Tiger Woods, the golfer who was once considered unstoppable, has dropped out of the top 10 in the World Golf Rankings for the first time in 14 years. The last win for Woods was 18 months ago in the Australian Masters and he will drop to number 11 in the next world golf ranking, set to be published on Monday.
The last time Tiger was out of the top 10 was when he was ranked 13th on April 6, 1997. This was right before winning the Masters. After that, Woods went on an unprecedented tear, being ranked number one for 623 weeks.
I remember a time when nearly every golfer in the world had a World Golf Ranking score between .1 and 10. The number two player in the world had a score of a little over 11. Tiger Woods’ score? It was over 30. I was inspired by his greatness, for it seemed that he was the black athlete who could not be stopped.
There was also a great sense of pride in the fact that Tiger, like a mythical superhero, could show up to a tournament as the only black man out of 150 participants and whip every single player on the course. I thought that the emergence of Tiger Woods would lead to a wave of great black golfers, as other inspired young black men took to the course to replicate the efforts of their idol. As much as he ridiculously described himself to be “caublinasian,” (whatever that means) he struck a mighty blow to one of the most racist and elitist sports in the world. The man other golfers traditionally expected to be their caddy was consistently spanking them on the course and asking “who’s your daddy?”
But to date, there are no prominent black male golfers other than Tiger himself. With Tiger’s exit from greatness, the path has been cleared for new, hungrier, young (mostly white and Asian) players to make their mark on the world. I never thought I’d see the day where my hero had become an also-ran, but I guess nothing lasts forever.
I’ll admit that there is a part of me that remains bitter about Tiger’s sudden fall from grace, sort of the way I felt when an old girlfriend dumped me without warning or when my best friend suddenly died from a gunshot wound to the head. I expected a slow, steady decline in Tiger’s abilities (i.e. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, etc.), but instead, I had to witness something far more tragic. Since his fateful car accident where his wife bashed in the windows of his truck with a golf club to (smh) “pull him out of the truck,” Tiger has been just a shadow of himself. After hearing about the wild allegations of unprotected sex with porn stars, I felt for Tiger’s wife, who may have experienced unspeakable consequences of her husband’s irresponsible behavior. I also wondered how a man who’d been known for having such discipline could unravel right before our eyes.
On one hand, it probably got a little dull for Tiger to keep investing the amount of time and energy it takes to be the greatest golfer in the history of the world: You have to practice longer than your competitors, you can’t have as much fun as everyone else, and you’ve got to make sacrifices that most people aren’t willing to make. I became concerned about Tiger’s career when he decided to get married, for I’ve always felt that relationships sometimes take away time that highly ambitious people can’t commit.
At the same time, Tiger may end up falling painfully short of breaking the record that served as the driving force behind his entire career: winning 18 major championships, set by Jack Nicklaus. It will surely make the white male golf establishment happy to see that the incredibly threatening black guy never quite reached his mark. By finishing with 14 majors, Tiger may end up painfully close to his goal. No, I do not think Tiger is going to win another major – his attention seems to have gone elsewhere.
Perhaps the lesson that can be learned from Tiger is the value of maintaining your focus. Sex is one of the things that brings great men to their knees. Even heads of state have watched their careers go up in flames over the cute little intern or sexy assistant. The power of God and Mother Nature can be undeniable.
So, to those who wish to be great at anything, I remind you to keep your eye on the prize. Tiger Woods achieved fame, fortune and all the success that a man could want. But the truth is that he may be forever haunted by the fact that he once dreamed about breaking Jack’s record and defined his entire career around a goal that he will never reach. That’s a lot to give up in exchange for satisfy that thing that resides in your pants. I wonder if it was worth it.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
