The country virtually stopped while Tiger Woods gave all of us a personal apology. Reading from notes crafted by public relation experts over several months, he gave what I thought was an insincere apology. If par was 72, Tiger hacked it around in what I would score a solid 110. Missed the cut by a record number of shots.
Tiger asked for my help. My help to restore his endorsements to the previous $100 million a year? Sorry, Tiger, I don’t care if you ever get another dollar to hawk anything.
You have done irreparable damage to the game of golf. What you’ve done to your family is your business. What you have done to golf, a sport I love is my business. The PGA tour may never recover from your actions. Golf, as a sport, will suffer too.
In the early years of my life politicians got a pass. John Kennedy may have made Tiger Woods look like a piker when it came to behavior. Not until years after his death did the truth emerge. Now politicians live in a fishbowl. The press can’t wait to dig up another Monica and give us the story. The errant politician stands at a press conference with the faithful spouse who looks like she ate a raw persimmon, and give us the Tiger Woods speech. Then, goes off to some kind of rehab, like Tiger.
Now, it will be open season on athletes. Michael Jordan, one of Tiger’s running mates, lived the same kind of life Tiger lived. But, he got a pass from the media. No more. Tiger’s actions will open that can of worms for all athletes. So, he needed to apologize to all professional athletes. He took the lid off the worm can.
His apology was much like David Letterman’s in my judgment. Arrogant and insincere. It was too long and too staged.
In this era of politicians who can’t speak the truth and speak from the heart, Tiger Woods used their playbook. If you can’t stand up there and use your own words and explain bad behaviour, don’t bother. The room, the people in the audience, the words were all artificial.
We all make mistakes. We are human. You made mistakes. Tell us that in your words. This is the Johnson and Johnson Tylenol pattern that public relations experts use as the case study to fix problems. Tell the public about the problem. Stop doing what you were doing and put safety features on your medicine bottles. The formula Toyota didn’t follow.
Your apology will not stop the people who go to golf tournaments from taunting you. No company that sells to wives and mothers will ever use your name to sell their products. Your icy persona will be sorely tested on the course when the yell cheetah meets you at the tee. This will demonstrate whether you have the character to get through that challenge.
Whatever happens in your personal life is your business. But, asking me to help you won’t happen. I didn’t get you into this and I’m not going to help you fix it. I’ve dealt with my shortcomings without your help and you need to do the same. Golf is the only sport where professionals call penalties on themselves. Use the golf rules to manage your personal life.