Life of Tiger Woods - Professional Golfer - Research Paper Example

Professional Golfer: Tiger Woods Introduction Tiger Woods is an American golfer born on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California. His father Earl, who died in 2006, was a retired lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran. Both the parents of Tiger Woods were from mixed ancestry making Woods himself a mixture of more races. The father had Chinese, Native American, and African American origin while the mother had Chinese, Dutch, and Thai origin. This makes Woods partly Native American, Dutch, Asian, and African American. His original name was Eldrick Tont and was named Tiger by his father after a soldier who was a friend of his father’s. He grew up under the Buddhist religion, which he would later relate to his infidelity and subsequent divorce. Woods’ father Earl was a good athlete; a golfer and baseball player. It was due to his love for golf that he introduced his to the game as early as the age of two years. He carried on well with the game occasionally winning some junior championship titles and at the age of 11, he could beat his father in the game despite the father’s efforts. He has since been a professional golfer who has won several titles. Recent Personal Issues/ the affairs/life/divorce Woods lost his father and role model on May 3, 2006 having been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He took nine weeks off to be with the family. He did not perform considerably well when he returned for the U.S Open championships that year. For the first time as a professional, he missed the cut at Winged Foot. Woods met his love Elin Nordegren during the 2001 Open Championships. They were introduced to each other by Jesper Parnevick, a golfer who had employed the woman as an au pair. They were engaged in November 2003 and officially got married on October 5, 2004 at the Sandy Lane resort at the Caribbean island in Barbados. They lived in Isleworth in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida. They also purchased other homes elsewhere, for instance they had a home in Sweden and another in California. The couple purchased a residential property, in 2006, worth $39M that they intended to use as their home, in Jupiter Island of Florida. Unfortunately, a guesthouse belonging to Woods in the island was brought down to ashes through fire caused by lightning in the following year. They had their first child on June 18, 2007 and the second on February 8, 2009. Towards the end of last year, i.e. November 2009, there were claims and speculations that Woods had love affairs outside their marriage. In particular, it was claimed that he had an affair with Rachel Uchitel, a nightclub manager. Recent CBS report stated, “Rachel Uchitel became a tabloid sensation a year ago as a result of her involvement with Tiger Woods” (Rachel Uchitel: Addicted to love para1).Fallout started when he had a road accident with his SUV just a day or so later. He was charged with careless driving and fined $164 by a Florida court. The attention of the media and the public was drawn when he declined to give a statement with the police, with some critics and analysts suggesting that he was running away from his family after realizing that his extramarital affairs were being unearthed (Morrow para1). This forced him to give a press release through his website stating that he was sorry for what had happened and maintained that all that was behind the scene was a family issue. It was not clear to everyone the nature and purpose of the apology. Worse still, he also announced that he would not participate in any of the remaining golf tournament that year including Chevron World Challenge, his own charity tournament. Several other claims continued to emerge day by day concerning Woods external love affairs. Jaimee Grubbs, a San Diego cocktail waitress publicly claimed that she had had an affair with Woods for two and a half years. She also gave out voice and text messages she had from Woods that had the love-appealing content. In reacting to this claims, Woods only apologized for having let his family down. The reason for this apology was also not clear and once again, he suggested that the issue remain a family matter. More and more women issued claims via the numerous media outlets that they had affairs with Woods. The atmosphere intensified and on December 11, he was forced to give another press release. He admitted that he had been unfaithful to his marital partner and apologized. He also announced that his participation in golf tournament would be halted indefinitely. On February 19, 2010, Woods issued a speech in Television from the PGA Tours headquarters admitting his unfaithfulness to his wife. He reiterated the website speech stressing that he had always thought he was on the right track only to realize that he had gone astray. He again apologized for the shame he had earned his close associates like family members, friends, business partners, and fans. He blamed much of his infidelity on Buddhism, the religion he was brought up in, and promised to seek a better religion to help him change. During this speech, he expressed his ambition to return to golf but was reluctant to say when he would do so. According to a report by the National Enquirer on April 29, 2010, Woods admitted before his wife that he had had around 120 love affairs. He also confessed to have spent a night with a 21-year-old daughter of the neighbor. This further weakened the marriage bond and signs of future separation or divorce were evident. Woods and Elin officially divorced on August 23, 2010. How it has affected his life and the golf game The recent events that have occurred to the professional golfer have had notable effects on his social life. Being one of the richest and most popular athletes in the world, his stories of infidelity reached far and wide driving away the reputations that he initially had among friends, fans, and business colleagues. Their divorce in August this year was a significant effect of Woods’ extramarital affairs, which cannot only impose psychological torture on the golfer, but can also influence his future relationships despite his apologies and confessions. He lost his friendship to Parnevick who introduced him to Elin in 2001 leading to their marriage in 2005. Parnevick was reported to have sent apology to Elin on his wife’s behalf and on his behalf stating that they had not expected such from him (Woods) and mockingly urged her to use a driver next time instead of the 3-iron. He vowed not to meet Woods any more. Another significant and negative impact that the promiscuous behavior had on Woods was that he lost most of the endorsements that were his major source of income (Faris 137). Morrow (para1) stated that Woods “only earns 7% of his income from the golf course; the rest comes from endorsements; Truly, Tiger has been riding high on the endorsement deals for a long, long time.” Most of the sponsors previously preferred using Tiger Woods on their products due to the fame he had. An item branded “Buy this product and you can be like Tiger Woods, too” was easily desired by the buyers due to his fame. The same is not likely to happen after his named has been stained by infidelity. Wood’s gross misconducts also affected, negatively, the smooth running of golf and other athletic activities towards the end of last year when the golfer was at his extreme. This came just when PGA Tour was preparing for a major event and Woods was rated the second then. Elling (Para. 4) reported, “At a sensitive time economically, the shocking revelations have indirectly sullied the image of PGA Tour, creating concerns about collateral damage as the tour heads into one of its most important seasons for decades.” He further pointed that, “at a time when every bit of a sales leverage is being mustered, the tour’s biggest marketing advantage has been stained, perhaps permanently” (Elling Para. 5). His performance after returning to the golf tournament mid this year has also been poor. Even though he denies it and claims that he has equal opportunities in the field, much of the weakness can be attributed to his recent past (Faris 143). Is it in order for the sponsors to drop Tiger’s endorsement? The decision to retain the “cowboy” by the sponsors had challenges to the sponsors. Using his name especially on products that were mostly used by women would low the sales of such products. The sponsors then have no alternative but to drop the name. However, in as much as some of the products lost fame in relation to Tiger’s name on them, those who continued to use the name managed to rise up and shine in the market. In this regard, it is advisable that the sponsoring companies wait for the reactions from the users before making the decision to drop his name. His outstanding records could have earned him more fame compared to defamations from infidelity (Morrow para6). Moreover, it has been like a tradition in the Native American history that the scandals do not usually defame and individual. Rather, it draws the attention of more people who have turned out to be the individual’s favorite (Morrow para7). Thus, it is still advisable for the sponsors to wait for nature to take its course. Besides, Tiger’s recent backslide should not be basis for discrimination. Elling (2009) observed that “as long as Woods plays as well as he always has, there is likely to be no long-term hangover from the scandal; thus, no more exodus for sponsors, as well.” Conclusion He should be fully accepted back into the athletics field as long as he is still capable of performing. After all, he has apologized more than enough. A recent interview with DNA Sports agency revealed the golfer saying, “That was the sad part about it. It was a check of reality and I learned a lot, unfortunately through a very painful process” (Tiger Woods has ‘turned a page’ one year after sex scandal para7). Thus, it is fair for every one to forgive the golfer. Works Cited Elling, Steve. Tiger’s personal issues strictly business for PGA Tour. Orlando, Florida. Dec 3, 2009. 01 December 2010. http://www.cbssports.com/golf/story/12610670/tigers-personal-issues-strictly-business-for-pga-tour. Faris, David. The Weeks and Months of Sport: A Guide to the Unique Sports Personality of Each Week and Month of the Year. Bloomington, AuthorHouse. 2010. 01 December 2010. http://books.google.com/books?id=8yFx7Ss5D7kC&pg=PA137&dq=Professional+Golfer:+Tiger+Woods+-+recent+personal+issue&hl=en&ei=J3z2TJblLML78Abq6OGIBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false. Morrow, Larry. Tiger Woods - Will His Personal Issues Affect His Product Endorsements? You Might Be Surprised. 2010. 01 December 2010. http://ezinearticles.com/?Tiger-Woods---Will-His-Personal-Issues-Affect-His-Product-Endorsements?-You-Might-Be-Surprised!&id=3424024 “Rachel Uchitel: Addicted to love.” CBS News. Nov 30, 2010. New York. 01 December 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/30/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main7102750.shtml. “Tiger Woods has ‘turned a page’ one year after sex scandal.” DNA: Daily News and Analysis. November 27, 2010. 01 December 2010. http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_tiger-woods-has-turned-a-page-one-year-after-sex-scandal_1472861. Read More