MUGSHOTS HAVE never been that flattering. The grim countenance of my own passport photo, for instance, is akin to peering into a haunted cave.
Seeing the forlorn snap of Tiger Woods from Palm Beach County Jail, following his arrest for driving under the influence, was all rather startling.
From global fame to a wall of shame. This fresh twist in the Tiger tale continues the sorry unravelling of one of sport’s greatest icons.
The remorseless, unforgiving nature of social media offered little sympathy as the masses mocked the bloated, bleary-eyed, dishevelled Woods. But then most of us would probably look like that at three o’clock in the morning.
“Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me,” shrieked Kenneth Williams in that well-known comedy caper Carry On Cleo. This latest Woods carry on is no laughing matter, though.
There can be no pleasure to be taken from Woods’ plight. He single-handedly propelled golf into a new era and lured in players, supporters and commercial partners.
The fruits of his labours continue to be enjoyed by a new generation while his stature ensures that every announcement, every update and every hint of a re-appearance from the golfing legend generates quite colossal levels of publicity and intrigue.
Amid all the turbulence of his private life and the despair of his physical and professional decline, Woods remains golf’s biggest draw.
In whatever high profile sphere, be it sport, music or the silver screen, those at the very top are not immune to the pressures, problems and personal struggles that come with the territory.
Susceptibility to vulnerability can be par for the course in the far from ordinary world they inhabit.
Only last week, Woods was all buoyant about his latest surgery on his back and stated that, “I haven’t felt this good in years.”
After this brush with the law in the sunshine state of Florida, you don’t tend to get good vibrations when you’ve hit rock bottom.
Goodness knows where Woods goes from here? Over the last couple of years, he’s been used to the sneering scepticism surrounding his various, and ultimately futile, attempts at a golfing comeback.
The obituaries have been penned many times but even some of the most hardened cynics were reluctant to write him off completely.
In the mournful aftermath of the sex scandal that consumed him in 2009, Woods stated that, “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to.”
The other night, the long arm of the law caught up with him. Like that grovelling public apology in front of the cameras almost a decade ago, Woods will now have to brace himself for more ridicule and more questions.
He may be tempted just to lock himself away for good now.
Woods is 41, he’s played only 54-holes this year and won’t be playing more any time soon. “I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again,” said Woods last week.
That prospect now looks as downbeat as his police mugshot.
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