Tiger Woods Must Be Stewing at the Phil Mickelson-Family Storyline Dominating the Media Today
By Jason McIntyre
“The good guy won! Phil Mickelson — who once put his career on hold to care for his cancer-stricken wife — yesterday beat out serial philanderer Tiger Woods to don Augusta’s famed green jacket.” – New York Post
“Mickelson, in case you forgot, is the guy who stayed true to his wife … He’s the guy who didn’t need reminding that women are not disposable.” – Rick Reilly, ESPN
“The good guy, a green jacket draped comfortably over his open-collared polo, addresses an adoring crowd at sunset. The bad boy, who was last seen walking past the clubhouse in his no-longer-bulletproof red victory shirt, heads for home (wherever that is) to the yawns of a surfeited tabloid press.” – John Garrity, Golf.com
“As Woods’ private life unraveled from a string of seedy revelations of rampant infidelity and promiscuity, Mickelson was uplifted as the loyal family man standing with his wife and mother as both battled breast cancer. The contrast was never more apparent than when Woods walked off alone with his golf clubs last night, a lonely loser 5 shots off the pace. Meanwhile, Mickelson stood wrapped in an embrace with his still-recovering wife, Amy, behind the 18th green after he’d carded a solid 67 to win his third green jacket …” – Ron Borges, Boston Herald
Phil Mickelson’s victory at the Masters repudiated the hype over Tiger Woods’s return after his scandal-induced absence from golf. Woods had cheated on his wife; Mickelson won for his wife, Amy, who has breast cancer and was in the gallery for the first time this season to watch her husband. – Richard Sandomir, NY Times
“With the tournament dominated by Woods’ comeback from his five-month sex-scandal exile, the Masters desperately needed someone who, even in the toughest of times, considered his wife a treasure and his family an inspiration.” – Bill Plaschke, LA Times
“Golf has a new superhero, Phil Mickelson, an All-American husband/father whose story just might be warm and fuzzy enough to turn the sport’s fallen hero, Tiger Woods, into a villain.” – Jason Whitlock, KC Star
Tiger did himself no favors with a huffy, defensive and somewhat tense interview with Peter Kostis of CBS (watch it here). If you expected a sex scandal to perhaps humble Tiger Woods just a little … not a chance. We found two takes on that CBS interview – here’s one, and here’s another that describes Tiger as “prickly and cold.” Nobody’s expecting a “flower child,” but a week ago, Woods sat before the media and said he’d work on his temper. Obviously, this isn’t something that’s going to be solved quickly. But he failed miserably at keeping his emotions in check on Saturday and Sunday. If Tiger simply admits that to Kostis, instead of saying, “I think people are making way too much of a big deal of this thing,” this blogger thinks Tiger comes off looking much, much better.
Mike Freeman of CBS Sports has a snapshot of the differences between Tiger and Mickelson: On the 11th hole yesterday, an errant Tiger shot hit a fan. The world’s greatest golfer said nothing to the fan. The next guy through on 11, Mickelson, also hit a fan. “Mickelson approached the fan, asked if he was OK and handed him a glove.”
Same old Tiger. Inability to come-from-behind (oops) and pull out (ha!) the win, or display an ounce of humility in defeat.