I heard from a friend who paid a lot of money to play in a charity tournament and as part of it, he got to play a round with Tiger and figured he would get some golf tips from the expert. Other than grunting a sort of hello, Woods did not speak to the foursome, had his own cart, kept to himself during the round, and walked away from the green without saying a word. Until he was outed by his own conduct, Tiger’s PR people did a wonderful job in presenting him as an entirely different person on the links than he apparently was in private.
My husband had a similar experience. Phil Mickelson, OTOH, was delightful.
Paying a lot of money to play with a famous pro in the group is an ego thing, not a golf lesson. The best learning experience in a setting like that is to shut your mouth and open your eyes and ears to that pro on every shot he makes and what he does in preparation for every shot. I’m not blessing Woods’ behavior but there have been lots of great pros who behaved like that. My father used to play in PGA pro-ams in the 50’s and 60’s. Some of the pros were fun to play with and very helpful. Others behaved like your friend’s account of Tiger. My father’s group won some big money in several of the events. Those were with the lesser known supportive guys. They played once in Las Vegas with a pro who won the U.S. Open before their event. He was an absolute asshole. That pro is now a commentator on a network, usually featured during U.S. Open coverage.
Oh, the irony; when Tiger outed himself through his own deplorable conduct, it gave cover to another world-class horndog who was going through similar troubles, David Letterman.
Lest we forget, the Woods scandal exploded at the same time Letterman was being forced to confess he had “inappropriate relationships” with several young women on this staff. Ol’ Dave had his own rumpus room/apartment in the Ed Sullivan Theater (where his CBS show was taped) and spent much of his time there, or at his other properties, while his wie and son lived in their Manhattan apartment.
Today, Letterman’s admission would be enough (at least in theory) to get him fired and exiled from the entertainment world. But the media quickly forgot about Letterman’s scandal and focused on Woods. Dave was even depicted as “the victim,” since his philandering was exposed after his staffer’s boyfriend (a 60 Minutes producer, no less) attempted to blackmail the talk show host.
I’ve often wondered if Letterman ever sent Tiger Woods some sort of gift for taking the spotlight off of him, and allowing him to continue his career at CBS for another 5-6 years (with an annual salary of $20 million). Both Letterman and Woods are pigs and they deserve nothing but scorn and disdain.
But the episode is also an example of how the media plays favorites. Letterman was always idolized by the press, particularly the media and entertainment writers. So, when the Woods scandal erupted, they were quite willing to forget about Dave’s indiscretions and focus on Tiger Woods.