Thursday, July 02, 2009

Tiger's Tournament Blasts Off

Tiger is hosting the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, which started today. He hopes to be a "greedy host" and take the trophy home this week, which would be fun to see.

“Hopefully people come out, not only to watch the players, but also to say thank you to all of the servicemen and women who are coming out here,” Woods said. “If it wasn’t for them, what they are doing overseas, things might be different here.”

I have always admired Tiger's support of our troops and the military. I love the symbolism of holding the tourney during the 4th of July weekend and in Bethesda, MD, near our country's capital. When asked to speak at the Inauguration, I wondered if he'd use it as an opportunity to talk about how he and Obama were of mixed race and their respective accomplishments. Instead, Tiger made a speech about his admiration of the military.

Perhaps his father's influence includes imparting the love of not just golf, but of the military and our country. Or maybe he's traveled the world and he sees no other country that gives us the freedoms that we have, which includes a guy being able to earn nearly a billion dollars because he can sink a little white ball into a hole with fewer strokes than others.

I hope the press touts Tiger and his salute to the troops with this tourney, especially those wounded in action, since they have talked down golf recently. The press seems to like to promote divisions, whether black versus white, pro- or anti-military, or high- versus low-income. They have a chance now to talk about how golf brings people together to strengthen relationships and raise money or donations for good causes. I hope they take it.

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

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