Tiger Woods on his media coverage: "They've created a character"
Tiger Woods opened up about his relationship with the media, revealing how he was "crucified" when he didn't do one post-round interview after doing them after every round for years.
Tiger Woods' relationship with the media is likely to be interesting.
On the one hand, there was such a buzz about his golf from an early age. People knew who he was. They wanted to talk to him. They wanted to film his swing. They wanted to take photographs of him. It was Tiger mania. We know now why there was such a fever pitch.
Part of that would have been flattering. It would have also felt extremely intrusive, too. When he really hit the big time, he was followed pretty much everywhere. To this day, his children are photographed outside their school with their mother Elin Nordegren.
They're in a public space, the snappers will say, clicking away pointing their cameras to two children under the age of 16.
Woods' public image got dealt a hefty blow in 2009 when his affairs with women were revealed in sensational style that ultimately led to a lengthy apology at a press conference.
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It has taken some time for Woods to rebuild that image. An image that was dealt blows again when he was found asleep in his car by a police officer and under the influence of drugs. That led to a guilty plea of reckless driving.
He has since opened up about the relationship he has now with Nordegren, where their children are the most important thing.
Woods also spoke to Time about how he has explained to his children the reason they aren't together is because "daddy made mistakes".
You can read that interview here.
One of the topics of the lengthy interview included his relationship with the media.
This is what Woods had to say to Time.
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How do you handle the speculation about you?
One, you don't listen to it. And two, in today's world, you don't go online
You don't read what's written about you? Was there a time when you did?
Not really. And that has served me well. It has served me well. Like my dad said when I was young, 'Were any of these guys there?' If anybody has any kind of perspective on it, it would be the caddy. He saw the shot, he understood what the circumstances were. Other than that, there's nobody else. So what's their take on it? Who cares? They weren’t there. They didn’t see how difficult it was, what’s going on.
Nick Price told me years ago that it's much different for you than it was for him when it comes to media attention. There weren't nearly as many outlets back then. And no matter what you shoot, people want to talk to you.
Uh-huh. I went through a stretch, I think it was eight years ago, where I never missed a post-round interview. And the first time I did, they crucified me. I said, realize I've done this for almost a decade. No matter what I shot, I always did a post-round interview. I did that for like eight years in a row, every round I played in, and when I don't do it, they just killed me for it. I go, O.K., guys, put it in perspective here. How many guys get a pass for shooting a bad round?
How would you characterize your relationship with the media over the years?
I have a lot of good friends in the media. Guys I've gone out to dinner with on countless occasions. With respect. There's also a flip side of people that I really don't care for. Hey, they made their career being negative and being outlandish. They've made a career out of it. But that's their take. They've almost created a character, per se.
