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Tiger's Breakdown by John M. Curtis Copyright
Dec. 23, 2009 Tiger’s Nov. 27 early-morning car crash exposed the ugly truth about the 33-year-old golf superstar: That he had an untreated nervous breakdown. Since crashing his Cadillac SUV into a tree, Tiger has been in virtual hiding, ducking the media in his own self-imposed seclusion. Unwilling to acknowledge his problem, Tiger avoids rehab and won’t face the motives behind his secret life of serial adultery. His 29-year-old former swimsuit model wife, Elin Nordegren, now wants divorce, seeks full physical custody of their two children and demands 50% of his estimated $671 million fortune. Despite losing several key endorsements, Tiger’s real problems stem from his reluctance to admit his problem and accept rehab for his addiction to prescription drugs and sexual thrill-seeking, costing him his marriage, image, reputation and millions in future endorsement deals. Tiger wanted Elin to stick it out for two more years, for which he planned to pay her $20 million above the $60 million specified in his obsolete prenuptial contract. While Florida is not a community property state and generally sticks to prenups, the extenuating circumstances of Tiger’s serial adultery leave the winner of 14 major golf championships vulnerable to a harsh settlement. Reports from various affairs, while unconfirmed, indicate that he was unfaithful to his wife even before his Oct. 5, 2004 Barbados wedding. Tiger talked of reconciliation but the extent of his serial adultery made it next to impossible. Since the Nov. 27 car accident, Tiger has not faced the media, other than well-scripted statements on his Website offering contrived apologies for unspecified “transgressions.” Tiger’s biggest “transgression” has been not facing his problem head-on. Statements attributed recently to Nordegren and reported by a “close friend” to “News of the World,” an Australian Internet publication, have revolved around his reluctance to seek treatment for possible prescription drug abuse of Vocodin and Ambien, two drugs prescribed during his yearlong rehab from knee surgery. “Tiger was supposed to be working on getting better and he hasn’t done anything. Instead, he just went to stay with a friend and says he’s ‘trying to get better on his own,’” said an anonymous but credible source. Infidelity isn’t the only deal-breaker for most marriages: It’s the lack of empathy and unwillingness to get help for a relationship-breaking problem. While it’s not known the extent of Tiger’s prescription drug problems, what’s well-known are his serial affairs during Elin’s pregnancy, childbirth and early years of marriage raising young children. Reports of domestic abuse swirled over the possibility that Elin, in a fit of rage after learning the extent of Tiger’s infidelity on the evening of Nov. 26, lashed out before his early-morning car crash. “Elin is livid he hasn’t checked into rehab and gotten himself off his drugs. He’s acting like a big baby,” said the unnamed source, attesting, if nothing else, to a logical explanation why the nearly billionaire golfer hasn’t followed the advice of his handlers, urging him, in the strongest possible way, to go into rehab for drug and sex addiction. After announcing Dec. 11 his “indefinite” leave of absence from professional golf, Tiger has lost several sponsors. While they resisted facing reality, they know Tiger lost, for the time being, his Midas-touch. He’s damaged goods until he follows his wife’s prescription for rehab, a necessary first step for salvaging Tiger’s image, career and reputation. Elin’s high profile announcement that she’s divorcing Tiger stems from the realization that he won’t seek help or acknowledge he has a “problem.” “Now she wants 100% custody of the children and half of everything. And she wont’ be changing her mind,” said the unnamed source, acknowledging she’s hired high-octane celebrity divorce attorney, octogenerian Sorrell Trope. Complicating the picture are recent reports that Tiger received medical treatment during his rehab from notorious Canadian steroid doctor Anthony Galea, opening up another can of worms. “Tiger is a broken man, on the edge and unable come to terms with what’s happening in his life,” said the unnamed source, hinting at Tiger’s breakdown. Whatever stress Tiger faced on the golf course, it’s eclipsed by the unrelenting media scrutiny and realization that his life, on or off the golf course, will never be the same. Returning to golf won’t be easy for golf’s brightest star, whose game was a finely tuned instrument, requiring near perfection in his physical, mental and family life. When or if he returns to the tour, he’ll find the media intensely focused on his personal life, something he resisted since breaking onto the tour in 1996. His carefully honed gentlemen’s image is forever tainted by salacious details of his sexual escapades, etched permanently into the minds of his fans and sponsors. “Tiger is his own worst enemy because at the start, Elin was sympathetic towards him. He was so physically and emotionally ill, she was thinking of giving him a second chance. But Tiger’s refusal to go into therapy is the last straw,” identifying perhaps his biggest weakness: His inability or unwillingness to admit his problem. No agent, attorney, handler or wife can force Tiger to get help and grow up. About the Author John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
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