Tiger Woods Throws In Towel; Named Ryder Cup Vice Captain

Tiger Woods has thrown in the towel and accepted a position as a Vice Captain of the US Ryder Cup Team.

While Captain Davis Love says that Tiger wants to be a playing assistant, we all know that’s not going to happen. I actually see this early announcement as a tacit admission by Tiger that he is not going to make the team — either on points or as a pick. In accepting the position now, he can save face when he fails to make it on points. If he is offered the vice captain position later, it would be a consolation prize for the once-great Tiger Woods.

I have long thought that Tiger would not play nearly as long as we would wish.  At first I thought he would surrender to a lack of desire once he broke Jack’s record. Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.

Now that Jack’s record seems out of reach, I wonder if the injuries won’t force Tiger into retirement. I find it hard to imagine that — when he can remember the rare atmosphere in which he played — Tiger could accept being a middle-of-the-pack player.

One of my students asked me yesterday “What does the President do when he’s no longer President.” My first thought was: Dreams of past glories. But the real answer is probably: Enjoys his acquired wealth without all the pressure.

I think the same may be true of Tiger Woods.

Bruce Springsteen has some cautionary words:

Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight
and I’m going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days

Glory days well they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days