Denver:
"Tiger At The Masters" is the Act IV continuation of the medieval morality play with a modern-day twist.
The drama is real, not allegorical, and Tiger Woods stars in the leading role.
Nobody knows how the play will play out, but regardless of what anybody believes, everybody must agree: This is great theater.
Tiger announced on Tuesday that he is returning April 8-11 to Augusta National Golf Club - America's biggest stage for golf. The whole world will be watching.
The Masters is where, after a teenage Tiger played a practice round with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, both legendary luminaries of the game predicted he would eclipse their 10 combined championships on the sacrosanct course.
The Masters is where Tiger won his first major tournament, where he became the first man of color to finish first in the Civil War plantation-like setting, where he won again, again and again and where he will emerge from the shadows of his tumult into the sunlight of the sport he dominated for a dozen years.
The theme of the original morality plays of the Middle Ages was:
Man is born and raised as an innocent, is befallen by temptation, seeks redemption and ultimately is saved.
"I stopped living by the core values I was taught ... I was selfish ... foolish ... unfaithful ... I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply ... I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to ... and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled ... I was wrong ... I brought this shame on myself" were Tiger's words a month ago. Sordid details of his private life were bared publicly.
Now, Tiger goes back to work - not in the aftermath of his father's death or a serious knee injury, but with more attention, difficulty and divided opinions.
Yet, he has chosen the perfect cocoon in a crowd.
As someone who has been an onlooker at Augusta National and the Masters since the 1970s, I know full well that Tiger will be welcomed, insulated, cheered and yes, celebrated by the members, the gallery, the broadcasting networks and the rest of the media and the other players.
The Masters is like no other.
When a player brought his girlfriend one year, and she was discovered on the grounds with his wife's badge, the woman was banished, and he was never invited again.
When the head of the National Council of Women's Organizations wanted to protest at the front gate Augusta's exclusion of female members, courts ruled she had to remain in an empty lot several blocks away.
The leadership at Augusta will not tolerate unruly behavior, signs, heckling, and boos by the (controlled number of) ticket-holders. A network analyst who referred to the gallery as "a mob" wasn't permitted to work the tournament again. The press liaisons will shut off a post-round interview when the subject is touchy. Media types go along with the program, fearful their credentials will be pulled.
For decades the only African-Americans at Augusta served as waiters or caddies. Mexican-American Lee Trevino felt so uncomfortable he changed his shoes in the parking lot, not the locker room. Players will never criticize the course or the club.
The Masters is not the wild, frenzied Phoenix Open.
In this homogeneous environment Tiger can lose himself in his golf and begin his quest to win his fifth Masters and his 15th major, and to regain a measure of his reputation, as the best golfer of this, and every other, generation.
When Tiger tees off in the first round, his sins will be set aside by the masses. When he makes his first birdie, the Tiger Roars will reverberate down the hills and through the pines.
Actually, the sport missed Tiger more than he missed the sport. Television ratings probably will be at a record high. Golf will matter once more. People will marvel at his shots and moan when he misses. The corporate sponsors will smile, and directors of other golf tournaments, particularly at the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Championship, will rejoice.
Players realize that without their cash Tiger, the game has gone into the Dark Age, and no one was there to replace him, certainly not John Daly or Charles Barkley toiling on the Golf Channel.
Will Tiger chip in for an eagle? Will he pump first? Will he say "Gee, whiz" after a weak shot? Will he grin? Will he win?
The curtain soon opens for the next act in Tiger Woods' morality play.
The drama is real, not allegorical, and Tiger Woods stars in the leading role.
Nobody knows how the play will play out, but regardless of what anybody believes, everybody must agree: This is great theater.
Tiger announced on Tuesday that he is returning April 8-11 to Augusta National Golf Club - America's biggest stage for golf. The whole world will be watching.
The Masters is where, after a teenage Tiger played a practice round with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, both legendary luminaries of the game predicted he would eclipse their 10 combined championships on the sacrosanct course.
The Masters is where Tiger won his first major tournament, where he became the first man of color to finish first in the Civil War plantation-like setting, where he won again, again and again and where he will emerge from the shadows of his tumult into the sunlight of the sport he dominated for a dozen years.
The theme of the original morality plays of the Middle Ages was:
Man is born and raised as an innocent, is befallen by temptation, seeks redemption and ultimately is saved.
"I stopped living by the core values I was taught ... I was selfish ... foolish ... unfaithful ... I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply ... I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to ... and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled ... I was wrong ... I brought this shame on myself" were Tiger's words a month ago. Sordid details of his private life were bared publicly.
Now, Tiger goes back to work - not in the aftermath of his father's death or a serious knee injury, but with more attention, difficulty and divided opinions.
Yet, he has chosen the perfect cocoon in a crowd.
As someone who has been an onlooker at Augusta National and the Masters since the 1970s, I know full well that Tiger will be welcomed, insulated, cheered and yes, celebrated by the members, the gallery, the broadcasting networks and the rest of the media and the other players.
The Masters is like no other.
When a player brought his girlfriend one year, and she was discovered on the grounds with his wife's badge, the woman was banished, and he was never invited again.
When the head of the National Council of Women's Organizations wanted to protest at the front gate Augusta's exclusion of female members, courts ruled she had to remain in an empty lot several blocks away.
The leadership at Augusta will not tolerate unruly behavior, signs, heckling, and boos by the (controlled number of) ticket-holders. A network analyst who referred to the gallery as "a mob" wasn't permitted to work the tournament again. The press liaisons will shut off a post-round interview when the subject is touchy. Media types go along with the program, fearful their credentials will be pulled.
For decades the only African-Americans at Augusta served as waiters or caddies. Mexican-American Lee Trevino felt so uncomfortable he changed his shoes in the parking lot, not the locker room. Players will never criticize the course or the club.
The Masters is not the wild, frenzied Phoenix Open.
In this homogeneous environment Tiger can lose himself in his golf and begin his quest to win his fifth Masters and his 15th major, and to regain a measure of his reputation, as the best golfer of this, and every other, generation.
When Tiger tees off in the first round, his sins will be set aside by the masses. When he makes his first birdie, the Tiger Roars will reverberate down the hills and through the pines.
Actually, the sport missed Tiger more than he missed the sport. Television ratings probably will be at a record high. Golf will matter once more. People will marvel at his shots and moan when he misses. The corporate sponsors will smile, and directors of other golf tournaments, particularly at the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Championship, will rejoice.
Players realize that without their cash Tiger, the game has gone into the Dark Age, and no one was there to replace him, certainly not John Daly or Charles Barkley toiling on the Golf Channel.
Will Tiger chip in for an eagle? Will he pump first? Will he say "Gee, whiz" after a weak shot? Will he grin? Will he win?
The curtain soon opens for the next act in Tiger Woods' morality play.
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