There are no constants in sports, but Tiger Woods is as close to one as anything else I have seen in my lifetime. He entered the limelight in earnest with his record-breaking third consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship in 1996, back when I was seven years old. I can't remember golf without Tiger, and it still feels weird every time he and his red shirt don't come through with a victory on Sunday at a major.
Even more consistent than Tiger's performance throughout the years has been his eternally even-keeled demeanor. His show of emotion on the course has been limited to an enthusiastic fist pump or two after sinking a big shot. He is clearly a top-flight competitor who is confident in his ability to win, regardless of his opponent.
This confidence, however, never crosses the line into cockiness or arrogance. And for a guy who has made hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements, Tiger has always been pretty uncharismatic off the links as well.
And, in all honesty, who can blame him? His responsibility is his marketability. His lack of charisma is made up for by the fact that he has never made a foolish mistake or had a misguided outburst.
Recently, though, the world has seen a new side of Tiger Woods. It's a slightly goofier, more human side, one that makes perhaps the most beloved athlete of our time even more likable. It also seems to have caught many people off-guard.
The first sign of the change came at this August's Buick Open, when Tiger and his caddy Steve Williams were shown by CBS cameras laughing after a member of the gallery cracked a sonorous fart. Or was it actually Tiger doing the farting? Tiger was even asked about the incident at his post-tournament press conference, and it became an Internet sensation. How straight-laced do we have to think an athlete is for us to make an issue of him and a buddy laughing at some flatulence?
The second sign came from comments Tiger made a couple of weeks ago about Ernie Els. Tiger, while always a competitor, has never been one to make any remotely negative or inflammatory comments toward his opponents. However, in talking about Els, who a few years back was arguably Woods' closest competitor, Tiger said, "Ernie is not a big worker physically, and that's one of the things you have to do with an ACL injury … I feel pretty good with what I've done, and I think Ernie could have worked a little bit harder."
For Tiger to call out one of his adversaries is unprecedented. It does, however, make some sense. Tiger had the exact same surgery as Els just over a year ago and has clearly recovered from it much better than Els has. Also, Els spoke a few years back of a "three-year plan" to revamp his game to challenge Tiger. So maybe this was the competitor inside Tiger tweaking Els for his clear failure to challenge the master.
Or, possibly, this newfound sense of outward emotion and humor is a sign of increased maturity of sorts and a changed personality. Within the past two years, Tiger has lost his father, the main influence on his career, and he and his wife have had two kids.
So maybe the new Tiger is the byproduct of changed priorities and a life re-examined. A competitor realizing that there's more to living than the game he's devoted his whole life to. That sometimes it's alright to crack a smile about a fart on the course, or to tweak an opponent off the course. Either way, we could all take a hint from the new Tiger, and I, for one, hope that he's here to stay.
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Ethan Frigon is a junior majoring in economics and International Relations. He can be reached at Ethan.Frigon@tufts.edu.
