Colin Sheridan: Puerile Tiger proves powerful men are rarely funny
OFFENSIVE: Tiger Woods passes a tampon to Justin Thomas as they walk off the ninth tee during the first round of The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. Pic: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
I wonder about Tiger Woods sometimes. Especially the new, improved Tiger. Dad Tiger. Bro Tiger. Nice Tiger. I am suspicious…was suspicious long before he tucked a tampon into Justin Thomas’s palm in an act of bro-ishness that was Trumpian in its puerility, that Tiger 2.0 was just a myth conceived from the rubble of his broken body, born in an attempt to elongate a career already so great it didn’t need a second act, but desperately wanted one. And we wanted one for him. So, when those two desires collided, Tiger 2.0 was born, repackaged for our palatability as repentant, grateful and (this is when I got suspicious) fun.
Fun Tiger should never have been a thing. You can understand Rory and Spieth and JT wanting Tiger in their lives. He was, after all, the guy who paved the way for them. He “grew golf” without ever meaning to. The growth was just an unintended consequence of his star power, more likely a business strategy than an act of sporting philanthropy. The first 15 years of Tiger was so incredibly great that, given the chance, how could these new guys not want the chance to hang with the GOAT, play videogames with him and share memes and GIFs. Swap zingerish banter. He was a goof, right? Just like them.
