Twitter/@heraldsunsportTiger Woods was Thompson’s latest muse. In a piece entitled “The Secret History of Tiger Woods,” Thompson pulls back the curtain on a generation’s greatest golfer and explains how his relationship with his father, Earl, and Tiger’s yearning for a deeper connection following Earl’s death, brought him to exactly where he is now.
For being the most popular and recognizable athlete on the planet for the better part of a decade and the subsequent media throng that constantly followed him, Woods somehow seemed to stay shrouded in mystery. Part of that was by design and part of it was because of his inherent personality.
Here are some of the best snippets from the story…
Introverted Superstar
THEY’RE NOT WRONG, not exactly, but the SEALs are also viewing Tiger through their own pre-existing idea of how a superstar should act, so his behavior processes as arrogant and selfish. That reaction has colored Tiger’s relationships his entire life: People who meet him for 30 seconds love him, and people who spend several hours with him think he’s aloof and weird while people who hang around long enough to know him end up both loving him and being oddly protective. His truest self is shy, awkward and basically well-intentioned, as unsuited for life in public as he is suited for hitting a ball.
Then there’s the story of the lunch, which spread throughout the Naval Special Warfare community. Guys still tell it, almost a decade later. Tiger and a group of five or six went to a diner in La Posta. The waitress brought the check and the table went silent, according to two people there that day. Nobody said anything and neither did Tiger, and the other guys sort of looked at one another.
Finally one of the SEALs said, “Separate checks, please.”
The waitress walked away.
“We are all baffled,” says one SEAL, a veteran of numerous combat deployments. “We are sitting there with Tiger f—ing Woods, who probably makes more than all of us combined in a day. He’s shooting our ammo, taking our time. He’s a weird f—ing guy. That’s weird s—. Something’s wrong with you.”
To read the rest of this interesting story on Tigers quirks, go here!
Source: Golf Swing by Swing
Pictures: Twitter/@heraldsunsport Keith Allison
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