Before his scandal and the avalanche of lies that followed and continued to this day, I would never have believed Tiger Woods used PEDs. I would have been more likely to believe that MSNBC was going to replace Keith Olbermann with Sarah Palin. But now, I think it is perfectly plausible, if not probable, that Tiger did indeed cheat with Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Part of why I have had this evolution of thought is based in my certainly that Lance Armstrong did them and the remarkable similarities between Armstrong and Woods.

It has always seemed pretty obvious to me that Armstrong was guilty. How else could a cancer survivor totally dominate a sport where cheating is rampant and where the margin for error is so small? Quite simply, no one is that much better than everyone else.

But now that disgraced ex-champ and Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis has come out and strongly implicated Armstrong and many others with specific charges of doping, the case seems to be a slam dunk.

In fact, all I needed to know that Armstrong is indeed guilty was to watch his press conference today. There was not one aspect of his performance that was remotely inconsistent with his guilt.

He failed to address any of the specific allegations and really didn’t even issue a strong denial. He entire case seems based on the fact that Landis has changed his story and that he is Lance Amstrong. He even laughably claimed that Landis had no credibility partly becasue his e-mails were sent late at night!

But the way Landis has come to this point is actually extremely credible. He is gaining absolutely nothing from coming out now and in this way. He easily could have made money (which he surely needs) from these allegations but he has not.  Also, the specificity of his charges are more than strong enough to at least demand some sort of counter argument from Armstrong. Armstrong’s silence on them is deafening.

This leads me to Tiger Woods. It is clear that many of the things that Tiger has done are right out of the Armstrong playbook.

The key to the entire Armstrong scam is that he has used the incredible success he has achieved by cheating to create a persona that no one will have the guts to question. Being a cancer survivor, creating a foundation, the “Livestrong” bracelets, the television commercials, all smack of a corrupt televangelist who is protecting himself from future revelations of scandal by creating a cult-like following that will only be strengthened by any allegations agaisnt him. Armstrong has even gone so far as to say that any criticism of him are inherently wrong because they damage the good causes he favors.

The news media has completely bought in to the Armstrong myth in much the same way they (as well a I) did with Tiger Woods. The media (rightfully) hates Barry Bonds and they make it clear he is guilty. They love Armstrong and Wood and therefore similar amounts of evidence against them get almost totally ignored.

Like Armstrong, Tiger has a high-profile charity foundation and, until recently, had created an image of himself that his character was far beyond even questioning. Also like Armstrong. Tiger has been outspoken about cracking down on PEDs in his sport and has also taken extensive time off at various junctures of his career. Tiger, like Landis’ allegations against Armstrong, has admitted having his blood removed and replaced during “therapy” (in Woods’ case by a doctor who has just been charged with rampant PED distribution).

Tiger stated that his sex scandal came about because he felt “entitled” because of all of his success and hard work. Is it possible that Tiger also felt “entitled” to human growth hormone to recover from injury? I have also felt Armstrong probably felt “entitled” because of his cancer and that the ends justified the means.

Unlike Armstrong (who is accused of a different type of PED use), Woods has also shown very obvious physical changes in his body which are consistent with PED use. From 1999 to 2005 Tiger’s body got much larger/thicker and his hairline dramatically receded.

Does this prove that Tiger has used PEDs? Absolutely not. But there is now more than enough to legitimately question whether he has, especially in light of so many other who were thought to have been innocent who are clearly not.

A recent poll of PGA tour players found that nearly one quarter of them now believe that Tiger Woods has used PEDs. Considering how difficult that conclusion is to come to mentally, it is an extraordinarily high number and one that may actually still be too low.

Wow.  Even though I predicted Tiger’s eventual demise after last week’s debacle in Charlotte, even I am stunned with what has happened over the past two days with regard to the collapse of Tiger Woods.

After quiting (officially this time) yesterday during the final round of the Players Championship due to a previously undisclosed neck injury, tonight we learn that Tiger’s much maligned (rightfully) swing coach Hank “The Luckiest Man in the World” Haney has informed Tiger that his is quiting as well, only for good (or at least until he realizes that no one will give a damn about him in a month).

What is most remarkable about these developments is that it was just a couple of days ago when Tiger went out of his way to brag about how he is “100 percent” healthy and mock claims that Hank Haney was about to be his ex-coach.

At this rate, the man whose father once claimed was physically incapable of lying has become (even after allegedly “coming clean” and making himself a “new” Tiger Woods)  is such a pathological liar that if tomorrow he tells us that it is Tuesday then I am going to question the entire calendar.

For the record, I do believe that Tiger’s neck is injuried (there are mumerous clips of him working on it during Saturday’s round, but the notion that this has been an issue since before the Masters without him saying a word seems bizarre). I also have no doubt that Tiger could have (and should have) finished the round, especially given his essentially quiting during his second round last week and the fact that he is supposely trying to fend off Phil Mickelson to keep his spot as number one in the world.  The fact that he didn’t do so (he couldn’t get through 12 more holes???!) indicates that he has lost his “eye of the Tiger” and his formerly steel will has melted like a candle in a blast furnace. Instead, he is now become a drama queen who, when he is going to be embarrassed by a bad score and forced to face dead on how bad his game really is, simply packs it in.

There are many things I never thought I would think/write about Tiger Woods that I have done so since last Thanksgiving, but none is crazier than the notion that Tiger Woods is rather quickly morphing into John Daly.

I would guess The Golf Channel will start production on the “Being Tiger Woods” reality series sometime after Tiger’s exemptions run out in late 2014.

After by far his worst tournament of his career it seems as if Tiger’s game is on the verge falling off a cliff and into the most dramatic decline in the history of the sport.

While ordinarily it would be totally absurd to make such a bold assertion based on just two rounds of golf, for many reasons this situation seems very different.

First, he is not injured. Any injuries he currently has are mental and those tend to be permanent.

Second, this was his second tournament back and he has been practicing full-time for at least two months. Rust is not a valid excuse for play this bad.

Third, he has never had more incentive to play well than he did this week. He desperately needed to put the scandal behind him with a victory and with his rival Phil Mickelson breathing down his neck for the number one position in the world.

Fourth, he not only played worse than he ever has before, he flat out quit. No matter how the pathetic Golf Channel tries to spin it (incredibly, they didn’t even ask Tiger about having quit), he absolutely quit and also put his playing partners (one of whom was right on the cut line) in an uncomfortable position by costing himself a shot by not taking a proper drop on 14 and by playing 150 yards ahead of them on number 15. Tiger never quit before the scandal. Never.

Fifth, Tiger’s last major swing change was specifically designed to eliminate this kind of performance. Now, Tiger is not only no longer nearly as explosive in a positive direction, he now has no longer taken big numbers out of play. All the of the time and work of the Hank Haney era has been essentially wasted. Haney should be looking over his shoulder and holding on tight to his bodacious girlfriend who figures to leave five minutes after Tiger drops him.

Sixth, he has played poorly for five straight tournament rounds now (if you include his play in this week’s pro-am) and has scored and played progressively worse for three consecutive days.  That has never happened before in his pro career.

While it is still too soon to know for sure, it is quite possible that this scandal has scrambled the hard drive in Tiger’s brain and that the genius is now gone or at least unable to called upon when desired. His game is resembling that of the once great Seve Ballesteros who happens to be the best player ever to lose his game completely.

Like Seve, Tiger’s driving has gone from inconsistent to flat out erratic and uncontrolable. He can’t hit a fairway and is losing distance for no apparent reason (his claim that he lost distance last year due to an achilles “tear” is just plain silly and an indication that he is in denial).

Also like Seve, Tiger’s short game and short putting are still top notch, but with his long game gone it puts too much pressure on the other elements and inevitably, like they did today,  they will collapse as well.

Making matters even more daunting for Tiger is that, unlike Seve, he will have absolutely no time to turn things around or any place to hide. The stories will already start to be written that he may have lost his super powers and that he is merely just another PGA Tour player. The pressure will increase and may even become a self fulfilling prophecy, especially since his mechanics are horrible right now and he has very limited “post-scandal” success upon which to draw.

Add to all this his inevitable divorce, the crumbling of his financial empire, and the fact that crowds and maybe even the golf media will eventually turn against him and it sure seems as if this could be the start of a downward spiral the likes of which we have never seen before.

Let’s make no mistake about just how bad this was. This wasn’t just a missed cut. This was his first missed cut at a non-major since 2005. This was at a par 72 venue that he openly likes and where he has previously won. This was 16 shots worse than one of his playing partners and 17 shots worse than Monday qualifier Billy Mayfair. He hit only his six fairways. He made back to back double bogies. He shot his highest 9 hole and 36 hole scores ever as a pro. And, again, he quit.

Tiger desperately needs to turn this around immediately, but the TPC is not a place where that is likely to happen and if he misses the cut there then the floodgates of criticism will open and he will have trouble even getting enough rounds in before the U.S. Open to see if any corrections he finally makes will actually work in competition.

The most important element of all of this is Tiger’s confidence. When Seve lost his legnedary confidence he lost everything and he lost it pretty fast. Because of the unique natue of this scandal I think it is quite possible that Tiger’s confidence is perilously close to being shot and that without that there is almost nothing to keep this from getting incredibly ugly, with remarkable speed.

I almost feel sorry for the lying fraud. But not really.

After today’s Tiger Woods press conference, the wussification of the golf press (already one of the wimpiest entities on earth) is now complete. Not one tough question was asked of Tiger as he prepares for another struggling top 10 at the Quail Hollow event in Charlotte.

Here are just some of the questions that still should have been asked of Tiger but now, probably never will be.

In your Jacksonville speech you discussed saving your marriage and hardly mentioned golf, since then it has been all about golf, is your marriage over ? Was that speech just PR?

You have not fired anyone in your innner circle, have gone back to a full schedule and are still cursing on the golf course, other than signing a few more autographs, what exactly has changed about you?

At the Masters you said that you would try to behave yourself better on the course and then when you were lightly questioned about  the fact that you didn’t improve you said that people were making too big  a deal out of the whole matter. Does that mean that we shouldn’t take anything you say/promise seriously?

When you were juggling several mistresses at one time, bringing some of them to tournaments, do you think that ever impacted your play and, if so, in what way?

The National Enquirer reports that you slept with 121 women during your marriage to Elin and that the revelation that you slept with your neighbor’s daughter was the final straw for Elin. Is that true?

Your father once said that you are physically unable to lie. Did he not know you as well as he thought? Is being a pathological liar more difficult when your profession requires such honesty?

You claim that you had a turn achilles tendon at the end of 2008. Most experts say that is impossible, do you care to correct the record on that? 

You said that you were pleasantly surprised at the crowd reaction at Augusta, do you think it would be appropriate for fans to express their discontent with your behavior? If so, how so?

You claim that the details of your Thanksgiving accident are in the “police report,” and that some “stuff” happened between you and Elin which will remain private. However, you made a Nike commercial which tries to use your scandal to sell product, doesn’t that further insure that this is indeed a public matter? Why shouldn’t we assume you are lying about the accident? How did that Nike ad come to be made?

What message does plaing golf with Michael Jordan, who many people believe enabled your cheating, send about how much you have really changed?

How has presumably not having had sex in a very long time impacted your golf game?

It has been reported that you were called by Bill Clinton after your scandal broke, what was the nature of that conversation?

Where were you for your treatment and how did you escape public notice for so long?

Instead, one of the “toughest” questions he faced was whether he was considering changing his balls. No, not the kind that got him in so much trouble. 

No one is paying much attention to this aspect of the story, but when Tiger Woods announced (early) that he will be playing in Charlotte later this month he was pretty much also declaring that his marriage is over.

To some such a conclusion may seem like a stretch, while to others it may fit into the “No duh” category.

While this outcome has seemed likely for quite some time, the decision to play again so soon after The Masters sealed it for me. There seems to me absolutely no way that Tiger could give a speech less than two months ago in which he dedicates himself to his family and barely mentions golf, and then almost immediately spends 24/7 on golf, doesn’t fire any of the many people in his inner circle who enabled his serial cheating, and dive right into a full-time PGA Tour schedule and still have any prayer of digging himself out of the colossal hole he has dug for himself with Elin (a “pass” for the “The Masters” I could understand, a reguar PGA Tour event, no way). It should also be noted that Elin appears to now be in much better shape than she was before the scandal, which also indicates she is gone.

Of course, this not only means that his marriage is over. It also means that his infamous Jacksonville speech was, like much of what he has said since last Thanksgiving, waws completely full of crap (though it does seem possible that something happened right after that which changed everything on a dime).

Unfortunately this sad state of affairs is now simply par for the course in the new Tiger reality.

I have no idea how Tiger shot 11 under par. He made 14 bogies, 17 birdies and 4 eagles (his 21 holes under par were two more than even Phil Mickelson). At times (especially on Sunday) his game was literally worse than it has ever looked. To shoot 69 on Sunday at The Masters with six horrible tee shots, a duffed bunker shot, and a three putt from six feet is just simply unbelievable.  

I was very curious as to how I would react to seeing Tiger play golf again. Since 1994 he has been by far my strongest rooting interest in all of sports, but this was the first time we got to witness him in the light of man no longer worthy of any form of worship. I found myself extremely conflicted. After all of this time, it is almost part of my DNA now to cheer for Tiger and there was still a small part of me that did so. However, I think the main reason that I was in part rooting for him was because I simply wanted him to be in contention so he wold continue to be part of the story and to see what he was really capable of. After all, a significant part of Tiger’s allure (at least for me) has always been the notion that he was a human lab experiment for the potential of our species. This weekend we found out that it is not possible to take five months off, have your life turned upside, and win The Masters.

While part of me was, almost instinctively, cheering for Tiger, had I been at Augusta National I can assure you that the week would NOT have ended without even a single “incident” from the patrons. I have absolutely no doubt that I would have heckled Tiger to the point of being tossed from the grounds (I was temporarily removed from Augusta National in 1992 because I was using a press pass with the wrong name on it), if only to make the point to him and the world that there are still people who feel very strongly that he has let them and the game of golf down. I am saddened that no one apparently had the balls to take a stand this week.

My overriding emotions in reacting to seeing Tiger’s return to golf was probably sadness and anger. I am extremely sad that one of the great joys of my life has been needlessly destroyed and angered at Tiger for having soiled his very special place in our culture for a bunch of dumb sluts.  

I don’t know what to make of Tiger’s pronouncement on CBS after the tournament that he doesn’t know when he will play again and implied that it might not be for quite a while. If he thinks that he can do things the way Ben Hogan did after his accident (no, Tiger, your car accidents were NOT at all similar) and basically only play the majors he is very mistaken. This week showed that his swing is simply not built for that type of schedule. He is far too much of a feel player and with his short game magic gone and his swing clearly out of sync he looked totally lost. I really believe that his reentry at Augusta and his future schedule have been planned based far more on media/spectators issues than what is best for his golf game. 

It certainly appears that this talk of a “new” Tiger Woods has been greatly exaggerated. First off all, after be careful to smile as much as possible and use the first names of his questioners (which surely sent the narcissitic press corp into full swoon) at monday’s press confernece, Tiger basically blew the media off for the rest of the week. As far as I could tell he only signed a few autographs, and on at least three occasions he let out various verions of “God Damn It!” and even one “Jesus Christ!” (I thought he was Buddist!). Back in the glory days of the First Church of Tiger Woods we would have surely used these religious-based outbursts of examples of Tiger simply engaging in an internal family dispute with his Father, but now I see them as simply further evidence that Tiger Woods is a fraud and far too many people (especailly in the media) are still buying what he is selling.

Ok, some of my predictions about Tiger and this Masters have been way off so far, but I am still convinced he has no chance of actually winning this thing. If he does, it will simply be the greatest athletic achievement I have ever witnessed.

Regardless, barring a complete unforeseen Sunday disaster, I am completely shocked at how well this Masters has gone both on and off the course for our former hero.

His play, while far from perfect, has been beyond remarkable for someone who has not played competitively for five months, was in hiding for three months, and has had his entire life totally turned upside down (not to mention presumably not having been laid in over four months).

Off the course, things have gone even better for him. He handled the pathetic softballs tossed to him but the wussified press nearly perfectly and his few slip ups (comparing his comeback to Ben Hogan’s???) were largely ignored by the media. Also not mentioned, incredibly, by the golf press (specifically The Golf Channel and CBS ) was the beyond creepy and misleading  new Nike ad which uses Tiger’s philandering dead father to help take advantage of this ugly scandal and the revelation that one of Tiger’s conquests/victims was the 21 year old daughter of his neighbor who he met when she was just 14.

Can you imagine the firestorm that would have ignited had just that revelation come out the week of The Masters? But much like Bill Clinton before him, Tiger is benefiting greatly from the sheer magnitude of all of his transgressions and the media’s distaste for the details as well as their propensity for getting easily bored.

While I am not shocked (though I am disappointed) by the putrid performance of the media, I am completely dumbfounded that the tabloid press has apparently wimped out big time. I can’t believe that none of those outlets saw the amazing opportunity they had to rather easily wreak havoc at sports most prestigious event and create enormous ratings/traffic.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that apparently not even ONE “patron” of the tournament had the guts to express their displeasure with Tiger verbally during the tournament. It has not surprised me that the overall reaction to him has been positive. After all, most people are wimps (O. J. Simpson has always said that the vast majority of bystanders he ran into after he got out of prison were very friendly)  and golf fans are trained to cheer for literally everyone. But not even one fan with enough balls to let Tiger know that there are those among us who have not and will not forgive him for his massive betrayal of our trust?!! Even when doing so would not only be justified but would also likely lead to instant fame?

I just don’t get it.

The ex-Pastor predicts that Tiger will not break par tomorrow (his unoffical “over/under” is 74). He played great today, but the rust will show on Friday and he will not be a major contender on the weekend.

The ex-pastor of the former First Church of Tiger Woods went on a major New Zealand (home of Tiger’s caddies Steve Williams) television show to blast Tiger and make predictions about how Tiger will do at The Masters.

You can watch it here:

http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/does-church-tiger-woods-still-believe-3453534/video

It is hardly surprising in this era when “journalists” come up tiny in big situations and reveal that there is no bite behind their bark. In the world of golf this reality is even more pronounced as the term “golf journalist” is simply a contradiction of terms largely because life following the tour is so cushy that no one would dare jeopardize their spot at the table by getting out of line (not to mention the inherent conflict of interest entities like the Golf Channel have covering their ratings-makers like Tiger Woods).

However, even with extremely low expectations, yesterday’s perfomarnce and Tiger Woods’ highly anticipated press conference for the The Masters was an embarrassment. In fact, it was so bad, it resembled Barack Obama being questioned by a series of MSNBC hosts.

Here are just some of the questions/topics that inexplicably never really came up during the press conference:

Why did you lie to the Golf Channel when you claimed that no one in your inner circle helped you carry out your affairs? Why are Byron Bell and Mark Steinberg still on your team?  Why should we not believe the overwhelming evidence against them? Why should we believe that Steve Williams knew nothing when your mistresses claim otherwise?

Why did you lie three times when said that Elin acted as a hero during your car accident? Are you now backing off that lie by absurdly stating “It is all in the police report,” and lamely claiming that “a lot of stuff happened” between you and Elin that will remain private?

Where were you going the night of the accident? Why were you leaving the house at 2:30 in the morning?

Why are you teachers saying you lied about being the victim of a racial incident as a child?

Have the texts that you sent to your mistresses been reported accurately? If so, why should we not conclude that you are a misogynist?

Have you paid off mistresses to kep quiet? Have any of your mistresses ever had an abortion related to your contact with them? Did you pay for those abortions?

Reports indicate that security here at The Masters have been given “mug shots” of your mistresses to make sure they don’t get on the grounds, whose idea was that? Are you concerned some of them may show up? How would you handle that situation? Do you think that they don’t have the right to attend the event?

How did you stay out of the public eye for so long after the accident? How do you think your response to the story was flawed? What have you learned for this experience?

You said you didn’t play at Tavistock or Bay Hill because you weren’t ready to physically, but you committed to The Masters at the same time, how did you know you would be able to get ready and if you find out you weren’t reay, would you withdraw?

How does devoting yourself 100% to golf right now help you heal your family problems?  Why should we not assume your marriage is done when you and Elin are never together and she is not wearing her wedding ring?

Why should we believe anything you ever tell us again?