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Tiger's Handicap

9:25 AM, Dec 7, 2009 • By VICTORINO MATUS
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In a Washington Post column this past weekend, sports author extraordinaire John Feinstein takes on the Tiger Woods controversy. And while there's an argument to be made that the man should be left alone -- what business is it of ours to know why he crashed into a hydrant and a tree? -- Feinstein argues that it's the price he must pay not only for being famous but also for being a role model. (Remember all those "I am Tiger Woods" commercials?) Feinstein notes a conversation Woods had early on in his career with golf legend Arnold Palmer:

In 1997, at the first Masters in which Woods played as a professional -- he won by an astonishing 12 shots -- he and Palmer played a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club. Afterward, the two had lunch in the champions' locker room at the clubhouse. During lunch, Woods explained to Palmer how difficult his life was at that moment.

"I can't be a normal 21-year-old," he said. "I have to sign autographs all the time, talk to the media after I play, do photo shoots for my sponsors. It just never ends."

Palmer, as he had done in the past with other players who had made similar complaints (notably, two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange), looked Woods in the eye and said: "You're right, Tiger, you aren't a normal 21-year-old. Normal 21-year-olds don't have $50 million in the bank. If you want to be normal, give the money back."

I know what you're thinking: Lunch inside a locker room? Do they lay out their sandwiches on the bench between the rows of lockers while other guys are spraying their underarms?

Seriously, worth a read.

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