Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro

Golf

This picture can’t be how we remember Tiger Woods

There is no way to reside in anyone else’s soul, so it’s impossible to know for sure what hides behind the sad, droopy eyes and the sullen expression in the picture that nearly broke the internet on Monday. That could simply be the residue of a long night’s bender, or fatigue, or embarrassment. Who knows for sure?

Still, the mugshot of Tiger Woods that emerged early Memorial Day following his arrest in Jupiter, Fla., on suspicion of DUI, can carry only one reaction in regards to Tiger Woods, human being, regardless of how you may have felt about Tiger Woods, golfing icon.

And that is sadness.

Sadness at remembering what he was, which for close to a decade was the greatest golfer in the world, and quite possibly the greatest golfer who ever lived. Sadness at how that all started to go sideways on another holiday weekend, Thanksgiving 2009, when a domestic argument with his wife and a car accident in his driveway led to revelations of epic womanizing and sex addiction.

And sadness at what he seems now, which is a Springsteen song sprung to life, his back a mess, his career in tatters, his lifetime goal of breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 golf majors seemingly gone — and now that mugshot, and this story, however that story shakes out, whether this results in an actual legal morass or not.

Amazingly, next month will mark nine years since Woods won his last major, the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif. That was a weekend when it truly, officially seemed he was an indestructible force, winning an 18-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate on one leg since his left knee would soon require surgery.

At that moment he was 32 years old and the most powerful figure in sports, one of the most famous people on Earth. He didn’t always act the part of the humble hero, there were too many times he blew off fans and behaved badly on golf courses, cursing freely even though he knew every single pitch, putt, drive and duff was being televised. But the talent was unmistakable.

If he wasn’t yet the greatest ever, it was only a matter of time.

Now he is 41, stuck on 14 majors, hasn’t won a tournament since the 2013 WGC Bridgestone Invitational, has had only one top-10 finish since then, hasn’t played a competitive round since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic in February.

He has tried to stay positive despite four back surgeries since 2014. Just last week he posted a blog in which he declared, “I haven’t felt this good in years.” And the truth is, that is the way most of the golf world has been rooting for years. The sport misses Woods, misses his drawing power, his appeal. And, mostly, his excellence.

If there is a role model for Woods to follow, it’s probably Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who, by acclimation, is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. In 2014, Phelps had his second DUI arrest (in addition to a reputation-ruining picture of himself with a bong that had surfaced a few years before).

Phelps looked equally lost in his mugshot, and he was suspended by USA Swimming for six months. There was speculation that Phelps hadn’t yet hit rock bottom. But two years later, at the Rio Olympics, he won five gold medal and added a silver, lifting his record totals to 23 Olympic golds and 28 Olympic medals — precisely the kind of staggering, might-never-be-approached-let-alone-broken sum it seemed Woods was cruising toward in golf.

Phelps didn’t have the physical woes to deal with that Woods did. But even if Tiger never wins another major, that isn’t what the prime rooting interest around him should be anyway. Anyone who ever saw Tiger’s swagger, and his smile, and the way he stalked golf courses wants to see THAT version of him again.

That mugshot shouldn’t be the last thing we remember.

It can’t be.