In the aftermath of another Tigers Woods meltdown last week — this one at the Dubai Desert Classic — the Tiger fanboy media was in full force trying to figure out why their hero continues to fail.
Tiger hasn’t won a tournament since the 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, and since his fall from grace following the parade of indiscretions and the breakup of his marriage, the significant segment of the sports media that had worshipped at the altar of Tiger has tried rationalize their icon’s struggles.
Yes, that is what it is called — Tiger’s “struggles.”
Tiger needs to stop changing his swing. Tiger needs to find a new coach. Tiger needs to go back to one of his old coaches. Tiger has lost his confidence.
Here is what you never hear in any of these critiques — Tiger hasn’t been the same since he lost his Dr. Feelgood.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the Tiger media to at least consider the reality that he has not been the same golfer since Dr. Anthony Galea — the Canadian sports medicine man facing charges of smuggling banned substances, including human growth hormones, into the United States — has been out of commission.
In October, a federal grand jury in Buffalo issued a five-count indictment charging that the physician — who is not licensed to work in the United States — treated 20 professional athletes in private homes and hotels in this country from October 2007 to September 2009.
One of those athletes was Tiger, who has admitted to being treated by Dr. Galea but denied using any banned substances.
“He [Galea] never gave me HGH [human growth hormone] or any PEDs [performance-enhancing drugs],” Tiger told reporters in April 2010, “I have never taken any of those.”
Tiger said Galea has treated him with a legal procedure called “blood-spinning,” where a small amount of blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge, then returned to the patient in an attempt to heal injuries faster.
There was some spinning going on here.
It was over as far as the Tiger media was concerned. Story after story about Tiger’s woes, and no questions raised about connection between his performance problems and the charges facing Galea. I read a lengthy profile of Woods last summer detailing all his trials and tribulations, and no where in the article did I read about the fact that Tiger had been questioned by federal authorities in the Galea probe.
Now, I don’t know what kind of life pro golfers lead — if, like the mob, questioning by the feds is standard operating procedure — but if I was making a list of my troubles, being questioned by the feds would make the list.
I don’t know if Tiger took performance-enhancing substances or if his divorce from Dr. Galea had a bigger impact than his divorce from Elin Nordegren. But it is at the very least a coincidence that deserves consideration — or at least mention.
The possibility, though, would crush the Tiger fanboys — the sports media who regularly hit the links themselves in dreams of playing like Tiger. Tiger cheating the game would be far more devastating than Tiger cheating on his wife.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
