The Written Word
for December 3, 2000

I wonder if the bloom is coming off the Tiger Woods rose a bit. In his last three tournaments he was second once, third once and fourth once. Though that made him nearly a million dollars we’ve come to expect nothing less than victory from this unbelievable young golfer.

But we’ve seen some other signs as well. His loud use of the “f” word, his throwing the occasional club and his expectorating in disgust might be seen by some as signs that there is a crack or two in the armor.

Then there was his crossing a picket line to do an ad which cost him $100,000, one half of which was rebated. And there is his public spat with the PGA who, according to Woods, are using his image without his permission and, what’s worse, using it for nothing.

I think there will be a bit of a leveling off after he wins the Masters next April. He will be highly motivated to be the only man to hold all four major championships at the same time and when Tiger is highly motivated he’s a force to be reckoned with.

I believe that he will indeed level off – if continuing to be the world’s number one golfer can be so described – just because he will have too much on his plate to remain as focussed as he would like. At the end of this month he will be just 25 – a time when most tour players haven’t even got their tour card let alone have five majors under their belt. Woods will have more distractions like his squabble with the PGA. There will be unending pressures by sponsors for his appearance. After all, a tournament without Tiger is like a martini without the gin. His outside activities will beset him. He could quit all outside interests now and be one of the richest men in the world but a make-up like Tiger’s doesn’t know the meaning of the word “retire”.

My projection is that Tiger will cool off quite a bit in 2001 though he will win at least one major. Then, as he matures he will continue to dominate but not so completely as now. For one thing he’s the victim of his own success as more and more super players come on the tour. For another, he will just lose a teeny bit of that competitive edge which made him so desperately want to prove after the 1997 masters than he was no one trick pony.