Marriage is a great institution if one hooks up with the right partner. Yours truly has tried it a couple times himself. Alas, I fired #1 and, many years later, #2 would fire me -- so I suppose that's fair on some level. But glorious as it can be, it would appear there are times when holy matrimony, or even considering it, can be detrimental -- especially in the golfing world.
Enter Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Remember, back in the early 2000s, Tiger was winning everything, including major after major. Woods was far and away the #1 player in the world. There was Tiger -- and everybody else. It wasn't a matter of if, but when he would surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major victories. It certainly wasn't uncommon for bettors to take Tiger over the entire field in any given tournament. And then along came Elin, the Swedish bombshell.
They would marry in 2004, and Tiger continued to pound out the tournament wins. Problem was, it turned out Woods had apparently stayed busy pounding out the bimbos on the side as well.
Elin and Tiger had their first child, a daughter, in 2007. Tiger won one major, down from two the year before. In 2008, along came their second child, a son. Again, Woods won one major. Then besides a wife -- he had two kids. And he hasn't won a major since. Six years and counting.
A year later, in 2009, Woods' serial infidelity would be exposed and Elin wasn't happy, to say the least. The Big D loomed immediately. When the dust cleared, Ms. Nordegren, who'd been a clerk in a clothing store before hanging out on the PGA tour and eventually hooking up with Tiger -- walked away with the kids and $100 million bucks of his money. Did Tiger have it coming? Sure. Regardless of how rich and famous a man is -- when he gets married -- he's supposed to swear off the bimbos. Somewhere in the handy-dandy guide to a successful marriage, I'm pretty sure that's spelled out in the by-laws.
Look at what's happened to Tiger since. He won his last major, the 2008 US Open, on a bad leg. He and his long-time caddie, Steve Williams, got divorced as well. Just recently, Woods had back surgery, which has put him out of action indefinitely. He may or may not ever play again, let alone return to the dominant force he was a decade ago.
And the downhill slide all started when he got married. Throw in a couple kids, and the slope into oblivion can get really slippery for a golfer.
Quick question: Why would a guy like Woods back in the day even remotely consider getting married? Good grief, he had his choice of Grade A cuisine the world over with no strings attached. Sure, Elin wasn't hard to look at -- but she wasn't all THAT.
Given all that's happened, does anybody really think Tiger remains a threat to catch Jack's record now? The dude can barely chip and putt these days, and the young, fearless studs the world over with some serious game themselves keep on coming.
Kudos to Rory McIlroy. The young Irish laddie had the wisdom to nip this problem in the bud. Remember, Rory had been in quite a slump too after a hot streak a while back. He had taken up with Caroline Wozniacki, a pro tennis player, and quite the looker herself. They were even engaged to be married. Then his game went in the dumper. Rory was lucky to make a cut at a tournament, let alone win.
So for whatever reasons, he fired Caroline. The wedding's off. Outta here. Ain't gonna be no kids getting in the way either. Forget that.
And just four days later, Rory shot a blistering final round of 66 to capture the European PGA flagship tournament, the BMW Championship.
The moral of the story? Marriage can be a great thing. But if you just happen to be a young, good-looking male professional golfer that's already made big bucks -- with the pretty girls standing in line every place you go hoping for a chance to get close to you -- you just might want to think long and hard (no pun intended) before you get a preacher involved to swap vows and wedding rings. Easy to get into. Most times painful to get out of.
And your game will never be the same. Rory figured it out before it was too late. Tiger's still in rehab years later.
'Nuff said.
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