Of all the parallels between golf and life, the truest is that in both arenas, we are almost never our best selves.
Early in my career as a lawyer, I represented a lot of people who were incarcerated. At first, the work intimidated me — visiting clients in frightening places, working with people who’d been convicted of terrible crimes. But in time, I came to realize something about my clients and myself: we are all wildly imperfect, and during the courses of our lives, we all have five or six days when we make terrible mistakes that we spend the rest of our lives wishing we could take back.
If there is a silver lining to this, it is that — usually — the shame of these mistakes is known only to us, or to a small handful. For Tiger Woods, though, all those days have played out in public: the affairs, the divorce, the nude photos, the DUI. Who would have blamed him for wanting to live the rest of his life alone? Who would have blamed him for locking his doors, turning off his lights, and never wanting to see another camera?
Woods’ win at the 2019 Masters is a historic achievement; it will never be downplayed. But ultimately, I am more impressed not by Woods’ ability to win again but by his willingness to try to win again — his willingness to fail, and to fail publicly, and to fail repeatedly, and to try again anyway. Under the weight of so many public humiliations — to say nothing of his health or his chipping yips — no one would have begrudged him for walking away. No one would have blamed him for concluding he’d suffered enough humiliation for one lifetime. Most of us would have. And yet, without any obligation, he was willing to try again.
There was never any guarantee — or even a probability — that Woods would win again, much less win another major, much less win this major. Likewise, there is no guarantee that he will ever win again.
That’s not how this final chapter of Woods’ career should be judged, though. The legacy of Woods’ 2019 Masters win and the final years of his career should be that in golf, as in life, there is always a reason to keep trying: failures will come more frequently than successes, and successes might never come at all. But there is bravery in failure. And past every failure, there is possibility.