Tabloid Tiger can’t sully majesty of the Masters

By Steve Hummer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

AUGUSTA — Almost immediately after Tiger Woods announced that he was going to come out again and play at the Masters, the hand-wringing began.

How might Augusta National Golf Club — the buttoned-down host of the most image-conscious, lore-soaked tournament ever — co-exist with a sex scandal on the epic scale of L’affaire Woods?

At the azalea-draped major he has won four times, the world’s most famous golfer has chosen to end a four-month exile that followed revelations of his serial infidelity. Just two weeks and counting before 66 years of carefully groomed Masters grandiosity collides with modern-day TMZ/tabloid-style mayhem.

The club has been typically stoic, releasing only a short statement supporting Woods’ decision to resume his career at the Masters. To indicate that Woods is anything other than an honored former champion simply would not be the Augusta National way.

But outside the gates, the free market certainly seems excited.

Right after Woods’ announcement, prices for a badge to golf’s first major of the year — already one of the most precious commodities in sports — began to rise around here like the pollen count in spring.

On Thursday, at his Golden Tickets office a block from Augusta National, Ram Silverman was quoting prices of $600 to $700 for a one-day badge, $2,400 for all four days of the Masters. A year ago, he said, he was getting $500 and $2,000 tops.

Meanwhile, at the more affordable end of the event, there was creativity afoot. In neighboring Martinez, at Kathie’s Special T’s, the owners of the shirt-printing business were trying to dream up a special model to mark the golfer’s return.

Nothing was set in cotton just yet, but Kathie and David Lees were leaning toward a message along the lines of: “Just How Many Tails Can a Tiger Have?” It might be further decorated, they said, by a bouquet of shapely female backsides.

Easy parody target

Within the bounds of trademark law, the marketplace can spin off any number of riffs on Woods’ fall from world’s most celebrated athlete to world’s longest-running letter to Penthouse.

But, really, could a customer actually get into the sanctuary of the Masters wearing a tacky Tiger T-shirt?

“Nooooooo. Not a chance,” David Lees said, scoffing at the notion.

That capsulizes the approaching conflict as the Masters nears its April 8 tee time — one between the obsessive stuffiness of the tournament and the sordid scandal following its biggest star to the course.

There is a seemingly endless supply of compost for this heap. In the latest load: The animated comedy “South Park” parodied Woods’ situation. And one of his reputed paramours, a porn star, released a series of sexually graphic text messages supposedly received from golf’s biggest star. More, she indicated, may be on the way.

Even when his personal life was as guarded as the crown jewels, Woods moved the pine needle at the Masters. His first victory there in 1997, at the tender age of 21, was the highest-rated golf broadcast ever (43 million viewers tuned in). The two other most-watched Masters ever: his victories in 2001 and 2005.

Now there is the added intrigue of seeing just which Woods returns to the game. He is playing one of his favorite courses and, at the age of 34, is just four major titles away from Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18. But how might his competitive fire and famous single-mindedness be altered by the meltdown since the infamous post-Thanksgiving car crash outside his Orlando home?

Focus on the golf

Do not expect to hear the words “multiple affairs,” “adultery” — and certainly not “porn star” — on either the ESPN or CBS Masters telecasts.

No one from CBS was willing to be quoted on the Tiger topic last week. At the Masters, the tournament has forever been the broadcast’s storyline. The networks’ challenge will be to note the context of Woods’ comeback without interfering with the florid tone of the event.

Distractions from the purity of the golf and the venerable course are poorly tolerated by the powerful Augusta National membership that runs the Masters. They like to think they hold a pretty big tournament around here, one that stands on its own merits regardless of who is playing, what personal baggage they bear, or what the interests of the outside world may be.

In 2003, when National Council of Women’s Organizations head Martha Burk protested Augusta National’s male-only membership, the club was unmoved. Burk’s protest rally was forced onto a muddy field a half-mile away from the course while play went on unaffected. And seven years later, Augusta National still has no women members.

Town treads lightly

To be determined is just how much merchants around the city may try to exploit the Woods furor. There seemed to be a sort of truce in place thus far.

Oh, the cruel temptations facing both Woods and high standards. Within a breaded buffalo wing’s throw of Magnolia Lane is the Augusta Hooters. According to assistant general manager Rodney Lewis, Woods never has been in the place, and they hardly expect him to show up this year. “There’s a picture of him on the wall, that’s about it,” he said. Nor will Hooters be running any Tiger-themed promotions this year, he said.

Doug Froham owns one of the few businesses that still operate around the border of Augusta National. Jay’s Music and Sound Supercenter is directly across from the northern corner of the property. “They didn’t like all the circus atmosphere around them,” he said, explaining how the club and its interests bought up much of the surrounding property. Because of that, it’s unlikely there will be a scene of mass crass commercialism immediately outside the Augusta National gates.

On his little plot, Froham so far has rented space to a memorabilia dealer, a cigar merchant and the inventor of an in-home putting green. Innocent enough. But space remains available, he said, if “TMZ” or “Inside Edition” or some other celebrity media outlet banned inside the gates requires a good location.

While Augusta National enforces a strict code of fan conduct during Masters week, Silverman, the ticket reseller, does worry that one of his customers could get caught up in the Woods mania and do something unseemly. One of his primary concerns, he said, is to protect the interests of the original badge owners, who could lose the precious ticket if someone wearing it makes a scene.

On the unsavory side

All around Augusta, there seemed to be more concern about how outsiders were going to react to Woods’ presence at the Masters.

Meet the owner of a far section of downtown Broad Street, a strip that includes a couple of bars, one of them the Discotheque Lounge. It’s the one advertising, “Show Girls Show Girls Show Girls.”

“Just call me Whitey,” he said.

A man who owns a strip club is going to be a natural enough target for media wanting to measure Augusta’s tolerance for the kind of unsavory sub-plot Woods is bringing to this year’s Masters. A New York tabloid, he said, already had hit him up for his thoughts.

“A lot of people just want to come and see the tournament and see him play. He’s a good golfer, you can’t take that away from him,” he said.

The strip club owner admitted he was fretting about the tone of the news coverage to come: “I just hope they don’t do anything distasteful.”