Not burning any bridges in defence of Tiger the golfer

CADDIE'S ROLE:How can you expect these high-achievers to be normal people as well as ruthless winners?

MY FRENCH is not good enough for a direct translation. But on passing through Charles de Gaulle’s airport terminal 2E on my way to the first event of the New Year in Thailand, I was bedazzled by a fluorescent advertisement with the troubled Tiger Woods still as the talisman for Accenture. The gist of the eye-catching sign was that business is 50 per cent inspiration and the rest a mixture of dedication, among other truly noble qualities.

The consultancy firm has obviously not got around to dismantling their association with Woods, as he is now deemed out of harmony with their desired global image campaign, in France anyway.

It did get me thinking about the world number one’s travails, having listened to the intensity of the Irish media’s reaction to the revelations Tiger was not the person so many had assumed he was as his infidelities were discussed at length in early December. Apart from being a welcome respite from the abject reality of our own economic infidelities, it was an almost career-changing break for our own Graeme McDowell as his astute manager took advantage of the opening Tiger’s woes had left for the Northern Irishman.

We were too busy pontificating about Tiger to notice the leap Graeme made by capitalising on his chance invitation to Tiger’s event in California last month, which he seized by finishing second and catapulted up the world rankings to gain exemption to the US Masters in April. Where there is chaos, there is undoubtedly opportunity.

Thankfully, I had a month’s sabbatical from writing and didn’t have to compromise myself by commentating on the biggest story about a golfing celebrity which had nothing to do with golf. I would still like to have the opportunity to be considered for Tiger’s bag if ever the opportunity arises. It is one of the basics of caddying – don’t burn your bridges.

In the barrage of radio interviews and newspaper articles that followed the revelations, the common theme seemed to be that Tiger had misrepresented himself, that he had fooled everyone into thinking he was something recent disclosures suggested he was not.

The more I heard this point the more I realised this is the unofficial chat-show consensus that has been adopted by the talk-radio regulars. They all felt like they had been conned in a way they had not suspected, by the heroic antics of the best golfer in the world.

The common sight of the perfect-toothed grin as Tiger hoisted yet another trophy had really revealed absolutely nothing about him, other than having learned well to say as little as possible, keep winning and keep smiling.

The fact is nobody knew anything about Tiger’s life outside the ropes. Tiger’s interviews were carefully controlled, the media access at PGA Tour events limited to sports media and definitely not tabloid media.

Being a mega-wealthy superstar, there is always going to be an unhealthy obsession with what goes on beyond the leafy environs of an exclusive country club. The ground rules were set early; private life is off-limits.

Let’s face it, anyone with an appreciation for the game can only marvel at his golfing accomplishments. Having been exposed to professional golfers for most of my adult life, I understand there is the professional player and there is the private individual. What activities they pursue away from the course is always their own and their families’ business, not mine.

Anyway, I wasn’t interested, I needed a break from them.

I don’t know what went on with the superstars of US golf in the ’60s and ’70s, but I do know information was not as freely available and it was much less likely for any off-course revelations to be made, certainly on a global scale. If any negative news items appeared they would have been at a very local level and therefore much easier to suppress.

But, as a man of the world, I am acutely aware of how men behave. So for a bunch of puritans or squares to suggest they are shocked by any off-course revelations of global superstars would make me wonder just what hole they have crawled out of and why, therefore, should we pay any attention to what they say.

These superstars do not lead ordinary lives. Whether you look at them as being blessed or dogged with an irrepressible talent, it is a complex position to live with day to day.

I am not making excuses for what Tiger is purported to have done and I feel extremely sad for his family. But getting romantically involved with a superstar for any level-headed adult has got to be dangerous territory given the bizarre nature of a superstar’s lifestyle.

For corporations who were happy to piggy-bag golf’s biggest phenomenon for so long and feed off Tiger’s almost supernatural ability to dominate the game for over a decade, to drop him because of the recent revelations about his private life is not surprising. But it speaks more about our superficiality as the marketeers’ easy targets.

In a selfish game where if you don’t perform you don’t get paid, how can you expect these high-achievers to be normal people as well as ruthless winners? We are all guilty of expecting our heroes in a certain field to be paragons of virtue.

The reality, I am afraid, is often quite different.

I still have the utmost of respect for what Tiger Woods has achieved on the golf course. But if I were looking for a moral hero I would be high in the Himalayas in a Buddhist temple searching for eternal consciousness, not watching top sportsmen in their quest for victory.

That is an entirely different challenge which must be kept in perspective by us all.

Accenture’s advertisement in Charles de Gaulle airport tells me more about them than it does about Tiger, the language is irrelevant.