Many of us have rooted for Tiger Woods to come back, to return to the spotlight and become a part of our sports focus again.
But not like this.
How is it possible that Woods, once the most powerful, recognizable athlete in the world, has been reduced to a cliché?
Arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence after 3 a.m. Monday, his mugshot illuminating every television set and computer screen, imploding the internet.
The cliché headline: Fallen sports star who seemingly had everything … disgraced.
And in the case of Woods, the word again applies. It’s been eight years since he starred in the steepest fall from grace by a world figure since Bill Clinton started spending time with Monica Lewinsky. In 2009, Woods was exposed for the rampant infidelity that wrecked his marriage to Elin Nordegren.
The news of Woods’ Memorial Day arrest was as jarring as it was telling: It left you with a picture of how lost Woods’ life appears to be without golf as he toils in yet another long stretch of recovery and rehab after a fourth back surgery since April 2014.
He hasn’t played since he withdrew from the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 3 with an opening-round 73, is out for the rest of the year and has made only three worldwide starts the past two years.
We are not inside Woods’ head or his uber-private Jupiter Beach, Fla., compound, but you have to wonder what he’s doing with his time with no golf tournaments for which to prepare. You can’t help but wonder — other than his two children — whether Woods without golf has lost some purpose to his life.
One look at the mugshot released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Monday following his arrest told you all you need to know about the state of Woods’ life right now.
Look at the vacant look in his eyes. Look at his disheveled hair — what’s left of it in the thinning, fuzzy hairline at the top — and his puffy, unshaven face.
Now ask yourself this: When it’s all over for Woods the golfer (if it isn’t already), what will you remember him by most?
His 14 major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus?
His 79 career PGA Tour victories, second only to Sam Snead?
His 142 consecutive cuts made in a remarkable seven-year span, second to no one?
The countless millions of endorsement dollars he made, starting with putting Nike golf on a map it has since fallen off — not surprisingly coinciding with his demise?
Or will you remember Woods more for that Memorial Day mugshot Monday and the Thanksgiving night sex scandal in 2009?
Having covered Woods since the day he turned pro, announcing himself to the world in that bold Nike commercial, and having chronicled every one of his 14 major championships for The Post, the first thing that came to my mind on Monday when the mugshot flashed across my smartphone screen was his late father, Earl.
What would Earl Woods, who once predicted that Tiger was going to change the world with more than just what he did with his golf clubs, think of this latest public embarrassment his son has brought upon himself?
Earl Woods was the rock in Tiger’s life. When Earl died in 2006, it seems a part of Tiger died with him. Tiger lost a lot of his foundation, seemingly lost his way — evidenced first by the sex scandal.
Nothing has been the same for Woods since. He hasn’t won a major championship since 2008 and hasn’t won a tournament of any kind since 2013.
“I want to public to know alcohol was not involved,” the statement said. “What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn’t recognize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly.”
Woods’ past transgressions make it difficult to believe him. But this apparently is his story (read: spin) and he’s sticking to it. Make your own judgment. But when you do, remember that it was after 3 in the morning when he was pulled over.
And then there’s that mugshot. It’s something you can’t un-see, which leaves me to wonder if this — not all of the amazing things he’s done on the golf course to change the sport — will be the enduring memory of Woods.