Tiger Woods Should Retire

After finishing tied for 4^th place at the Masters it appears that Tiger Woods should hang up his golf shoes and call it a day. After All Phil Mickelson has taken over as the best player in the game. The handwriting is on the wall and it about time Tiger comes to grips with the fact that he is washed up.

According to many golf writers it’s all but over for the # 1 ranked player in the world. In one article I read that “Phil had it all and Tiger had nothing”. It appears the Tiger Woods is the only golfer who has ever cheated on his wife and the only golfer that has ever dropped an expletive or two on the golf course. Up until now all professional golfers have been faithful husbands and choirboys between the ropes.

Jim Nantz came out immediately after the Masters and chastised Tiger Woods for his language. In an interview on a New York Sport radio show Nantz said “If I would have said what he said on the air, I would be fired,". He went on to say “Guess what? Phil Mickelson had a camera in his face all weekend"Did you ever hear him come close to approaching that? He didn't hit every shot exactly the way he wanted. Have you ever heard Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus use that kind of language?” I would say yes Arnie and Jack have dropped the F-bomb in their careers it’s absurd to think that they didn’t. Let get real here.

Tiger Woods has a camera and an open mic in his face almost 24/7 when he is on the course. I have covered Tiger for the past 6 years and the cameras microphones and media around him are insane. I am not a fan of foul language but I can understand the intensity a top notch athlete has when it comes to winning a major championship. I am sure the player that’s tied for 47^th in the field doesn’t say “ Golly Gee Gosh Darn, I hit a bad shot”. I guess Tiger should go to the Opie Taylor charm school and learn some etiquette. Give me a break.

I will just put it like this for all of those people that are bashing Tiger Woods about his outbursts, let’s mic you up and see how clean you are when you get cut off in traffic or when you shank a drive in the woods on the weekend with your buddies. I would love to hear what these people would say. Be careful when you call out someone publicly because if we dig deep enough I am sure that many of these critics haven’t exactly always walked the straight and narrow.

I followed Tiger Woods for four days at Augusta national last week and I saw a changed man. When I heard Tiger say the he was going to tone it down on the course I felt that he was making a mistake. Tiger wouldn’t be Tiger if he was quiet and placid. Golf fans like to see the fiery competitor that refuses to lose and the man who shows his passion by his play and with his reactions to both good and bad shots. Tiger should never loose that inner fire and drive to win.

Phil Mickelson is great player and great champion. I was very impressed by his play on Sunday at the Masters and I even picked him to win the 2010 Masters. It’s only natural that Phil fans are riding high now that he won his 3^rd green jacket; he truly earned and deserved it. But let’s not make that same mistake that we did with Tiger Woods and put Phil on a pedestal. After all we are human and at the end of the day we all make mistakes. I could care less what professional golfers do in their personal lives. That’s their business and it would be shame if the golf media turned into a crowd of gossip hounds and TMZ wannabes.

Edward S. Wanambwa

Senior Editor, Afrrican American Golfers Digest

www.thegolfwriter.com

www.theafricanamericangolfersdigest.com