Tiger Woods - Degrees of Obsession

Tiger Woods has planned his re-emergence, announcing that he intends to play in the Masters golf tournament in April 2010.

Woods has had huge success at the Masters, winning the prestigious tournament four times in his career - more than anyone else currently playing professional golf.

Announcing his intention to play in the Masters, Tiger Woods has set the stage for the greatest potential drama in his return to golf. Should he win the Masters, Tiger would again claim the top spot in the golf world and his eminence would be undeniably spotlighted, talked about, and blogged. Plus he would get to wear that fancy, old-school green winner's jacket...

And if Tiger lost at the Masters? If Tiger Woods did not or does not win the Masters in his return, what then? Well, his comeback would be less glorious, obviously. The spotlight would not shine on him quite as long as it would were he wearing the green jacket. But, due to the difficultly of the tournament and the high caliber of his opponents, no one in Vegas will be putting their money on Tiger Woods as the favorite anyway.

Tiger has been out of golf for months dealing with his personal issues. After his epic infidelities were made public, Tiger took some time off and "decided" to do less endorsing and more focusing on his family.

In Tiger's time off and his commercial endorsement situation, we see a set of circumstances that parallel his new debut at the Masters.

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At the Masters, Tiger will be the center of attention for a while, whether he plays well or plays poorly. His fame is extreme. His celebrity is unparalleled in the sports world today.

The question of how much attention will be leveled at him is one of degrees of obsession. Can we quantify obsession? Can we be just a "little" obsessed? Perhaps this is a question of psychology...

When Tiger steps onto the golf course at the Masters the flashbulbs will be blazing. If he plays well and contends for the Masters championship, then they will blaze more. How much more?

Again, when we're dealing with extremes can we begin to quantify? The lights will be on Tiger in such number that he'll leave the tournament with a tan even if it's raining.

This parallels Tiger's personal life in the sense that Tiger's loss of endorsements and his public shaming have only affected his fame slightly. Some may argue that his image has been forever changed.

Well, so what if it has? He is still the number one Nike spokesman in the sport of golf. That's an endorsement that no one else can claim.

He is still the greatest golfer of his generation - another title no one else can claim.

He forever lost the ability to claim that he is the best driver of his generation when he ran his Escalade into a fire hydrant, but otherwise Tiger Woods remains the central fixation in the world of golf and his fame is undiminished even if it is tarnished.