Tiger Woods: Is it Harder To Act Right Than It Is To Act Wrong?

       An article was recently published in the Wall Street Journal

entitled "Tiger Wood's Golf Problem: Starting Slow." It was an

interesting read. The article stated, "recent struggles aside, the

true reason he isn't gunning for a second or third major of the

year at Whistling Straits is that he keeps getting off to slow starts".

Unfortunately, this article and the many others that have been

published about the reasons Tiger Woods has yet to succeed on

the golf course, have failed to address the root of why he has and

will continue to struggle. The reasons for Tiger's struggles do not

involve "slow starts," inability to hit fairways, the type of putter he

is using, a newer more powerful generation of younger players, or

not administering his "old focus" throughout his short game. All of

those reasons are superficial. They are surface, external, or outward

reasons for his lack of success. In other words, those reasons do

not look internally, psychologically, or spiritually into why he is not

succeeding while playing golf. I would argue that the true reasons

revolve around Tiger's "inside game.” The more work Tiger fixes on

the inside, the more success he will have on the golf course.

There is no time-line on when Tiger's internal game will be

successfully healed/fixed. However, it is a fact that it will take

time. The fourth place finish at the Master's was a fluke. Even his

decent showing at the PGA Championship DOES NOT MEAN A

DARN THING! Based on skill, Tiger is still a legitimate force to be

reckoned with. However, golf is more mental than any other sport

(including baseball). Staying focused and present needs to take place

while playing the game. There CANNOT be distractions. Tiger has

distractions, big ones! The impact/consequences that Tiger brought

upon himself, DO CURRENTLY hold a spot in Tiger's emotional and

mental brain space. It is this emotional and mental/psychological

brain space that has a direct correlation to his golf game. Imagine

the impact on his play, that thinking about his wife, would have if she

slipped into his unconscious while he was attempting a putt. Tiger

 never had to think about that beforehand. In fact, he did not have to

think about much, besides golf. Tiger's wife, Elin, took care of the

kids; Tiger took care of bringing home millions upon millions so that

they could do anything imaginable. Now Tiger has extra thoughts not

only about Elin, but he also has to think about his kids. Until he

fixes his internal game, he will not succeed. The two main

components that Tiger will need to fix will include forgiveness and

overcoming the challenges of "acting right".

For Tiger to succeed, he will have to forgive himself for the

harmful acts he has committed. Tiger has a family. He has two kids,

Charlie and Sam. Tiger's kids will grow up and read about how

their father went to rehab for sex addiction. Tiger's kids will read

that he was not just with one other women, but with many. Tiger's

kids will read that some of the women were known to sleep-around

with many other people. They will read that their father crashed his

car  while escaping to see one of his mistresses. His kids will read

that their father popped pills. Tiger's kids will read all of this and

more. Tiger KNOWS THEY WILL. As a result, he currently feels

ashamed, embarrassed, regretful, morose etc. (the list can go on).

In Tiger's mind he knows he has done terrible things to his family.

He has harmed his most precious possessions. Dwelling on this

harm will not help his golf game; figuring out how to forgive himself,

will. There are plenty of spiritual teachings that bring up the term

forgiveness. However, actually facing, understanding, accepting, and

finally getting to the point of forgiving oneself is different from simply

mentioning a possible exploration into them (i.e. "I'm going to explore

my Buddhist roots").

 It is more difficult to act right than it is to act wrong. For

example, it is easier to cheat on a test and get a good grade than

study multiple days for it and get a good grade. To be direct, Tiger

was not the one studying. For an extended period of time, Tiger was

not acting right; his actions proved this point. During the time he was

not acting right, and quite ironically, he won. He won big. He almost

became the biggest winner ever. Unfortunately, not acting right

caught up with him and the rest is history. For Tiger to succeed, he

must learn how to act right and accept the difficulties that come along

with it. Imagine the example given at the beginning of this paragraph,

and extend it out ten-fold. That is what Tiger must do if, AND ONLY

IF he wants to win again. He may decide he may not want to win

anymore, because acting right has affected his game so negatively.

However, there is still a very large chance (based on his enormous

drive to compete) he still does want to win again. To do this, he must

stop taking the easier route of "acting wrong," and overcome the

challenges of acting right.

If Tiger learns how to forgive himself and overcome the

difficulties that come within "acting right," he will surpass Jack. If

done improperly, there is only a slight chance (based strictly on skill)

that he will even win ONE more major championship, and even that

chance, would be slight.