Tiger Woods’ spitting fiasco: blown out of proportion
The whole world has been screaming about Tiger Woods spitting on the par-3 12th green of the Dubai Desert Classic. TV commentator Ewen Murray started the fuss over a simple case of spitting on the golf course.
Woods did spit on the course, which is against the etiquettes of the game, but what’s the big deal? The guy must have had something in his mouth; it could be grass that broke loose from the ground with the shot and jumped into his mouth or perhaps a fly.
On the other hand, it could have been a chewing gum that he had to spit out. After all, gum is not good for digestion.
Whatever the reason, the man has even apologised for his little action. But the TV commentator did not stop at that and called it “one of the ugliest things you will ever see”. He blew the simple issue out of proportion. A little spit is not such a big issue.
Woods hasn’t beaten up anyone, nor has he violated a major rule, such as cheating or grounding a club. He has done a great damage to his personal life recently and to his fans’ expectations. There must have been a thousand things in Woods’ mind.
Moreover, if you watch the match’s recap, you can see the American trying to avoid the camera unsuccessfully on several occasions. When he was teeing for the 13th hole, he turned his head to the other side while a cameraman tried to focus on his face to
capture his expressions. The player was bugged for two minutes. That is enough to unsettle anyone.
There are other players on the field too and the TV channels should allocate equal time to all of them, so that they get an equal share of air time. But the world is too keen to know what the former world-number-one would do on situations like missing a
putt, so they keep the lens on him all the time.
Many players had spit on the course during the AT&T Pebbles Beach National pro-am, but none was caught on camera as the camera crew were busy recording the bigger stars.
Take the example of the hole-in-one by Alvaro Quirós on the 11th hole. The Spaniard pumped a fist at his caddy twice. That was an offence too as it went against the code and conduct of the game, but no one raised their voices against that.
The only reason everyone like pointing fingers at him is his being the most famous golfer in the world. There are separate sections on him on many websites and blogs titled ‘Tiger Finder’ or ‘Tiger Blog’. If it were not for Woods, Murray wouldn’t even have
cared. However, since his name sells, people cannot help but cash in on the opportunity.
Tiger Woods did cheat on his wife. He doesn’t like signing autographs and does not accept his mistakes. But all these things only make him human and do not mean we should start condemning him for every small mistake he makes.
Woods should be given space and time to fulfil his promise of becoming a good human and player. It is too soon to hold him accountable, especially at a time when he is struggling to find his game and normalise his life at the same time.
Tags: