Your letters on Tiger Woods, our cover (Continued): Editors' Blog: Golf Digest

Your letters on the Tiger Woods situation continue, some shocked, some confused, a few forgiving, many angry. Here are excerpts from some of the latest.

Dear Editor,
Earl Woods once said that the only thing that would stop Tiger is a woman. He just didn't know that it would be more than one.
James Harrison, Miami

Dear Editor,
I am disgusted and dismayed by the conduct of Tiger Woods. If your relationship with Mr. Woods continues, I imagine your company will suffer serious repercussions. Obviously the man has become an icon, however nothing can gloss over the damage he has done to his wife and children.
Lorraine Krausnick
The Villages, FL

Dear Editor,
Would someone please tell Tiger that marital infidelity is not a mistake. It's a character flaw.
Penny Carter Duluth, GA

Dear Editor,
Tiger is only human.. He is now in the 60 percentile of married men, who indulge extra-marital affairs... He should stem the storm of controversy and put to rest all speculation just as Letterman did from the beginning. Privacy is utmost to him, however, being evasive is not the way to go.
Vito Caselvona
Bayshore, NY

Dear Editor,
Like every other student of the game, I hope to continue being rendered speechless by the unmatched quality of every facet of Tiger's game, the fierceness of his never-say-die competitive spirit, and the trancelike self-discipline he musters and sustains without interruption through seventy-two holes. What's more, I don't question for a moment that he
is entitled to a personal life with its byword being the name of his yacht, or rather ship..."Privacy."

All of that having been said though, in my opinion, Eldrick Woods may be an on-course Tiger, the likes of which none have come before him, but alas, off it he is no Mr. Nicklaus, Mr. Hogan, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Ouimet or Mr. Vardon. Pity.
Stuart Kern
San Pedro, CA

To update yesterday's post, here are a few more letters on the Tiger situation--to add to the several posts by readers here. Today's letters, on the whole, are a more critical than previous ones.

Dear Editor,
Very disappointed in Tiger to say the least. He was the ultimate, best golfer ever, handsome, beautiful wife, beautiful kids, and exceptional morality (I thought).

Further, his father was the epitome of fatherhood. I got so I would not even watch a tournament if Tiger was not in it. He's got to be totally "Stuck on Stupid!

--Mike Homer, Savannah, GA

Dear Editor,
Looks like Tiger's character & behavior is finally an issue with his latest personal transgressions. I remember the boulder moving incident in the desert, dropping F bombs on TV and club throwing incidents with the latest being in the Shanghai tournament. Why do some players get suspended/fined and others don't? Tiger may be a great athelete and end up being the best in some people's eyes. As for me, I'll take Arnie, Jack, Chi Chi, Lee or Gary any day. They are true professionals.

-- Steve Moore, Okoboji, IA

Dear Editor,
While it's clear he is the premier king of golf and golf marketing, silence on the issue at hand would be repulsive. It's not what he did, but that he lied, promoted false branding and capitalized on these untruths. In my eyes, his reputation is forever tarnished. He is simply, not who we thought he was. While it sounds fun to have a lot of hot girls around the globe, the harsh reality is that he has just fallen into a moral bankruptcy.

Redemption is always possible, but only if a bankruptcy is acknowledged. He really did do something wrong here and I hope that you find a way to address this.

-- Gina Ragsdale, Los Angeles

Dear Editor,
Nice Jan. 2010 cover... I got a huge laugh. 10 tips Obama can take from Tiger... DON'T GET CAUGHT! Don't you wish you could have a redo! Too funny.

-- Brenda Laurenti, Willard, UT

Dear Editor,
What in the world are you thinking: What does Obama have to do with golf? Has the media bias gotten to the golf mags? Your current issue is at the bottom of my parakeet's bird cage. Is next issue's cover Nancy Pelosi and Paula Creamer? Stick to golf, or you can keep your rag.

--Bob LaCount

Dear Editor,
Enough is enough! It's time for the Tiger-bashers to show a little respect for his two innocent babies. We can hope the bashers will get THEIRS in some form someday!

--Avery Jenkins, Lexington, KY

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From yesterday:

H.L. Mencken said that a celebrity is a person known to many people he is glad he doesn't know. After listening to the entertainment-media shows and monitoring those web sites this week, I suspect Tiger Woods is feeling precisely that way about the people who think they know him. In contrast, your letters to Golf World and Golf Digest on the subject of the event surrounding Tiger are remarkably thoughtful, perceptive, often forgiving, and in some cases moving. And certainly some are, well, corrective.

A few letters concern Golf Digest's January cover, of course, depicting Tiger and President Barack Obama. Several talk shows and web sites have mentioned the cover and in some cases chided Golf Digest about it. Among them, ABC News, Slate and the Huffington Post.

First--and this seems obvious to us but may not be to them and you--the cover was not created after the Thanksgiving week accident. It was completed and closed well in advance of that, during the first week of November, and it went to press on November 14. Second, the cover was not a photo shoot with Woods and Obama. It was a photo illustration, based on a shoot with body doubles done in Los Angeles by photographer Martin Ellis. The fact that is looks like it might have been a photo is testament to the work of our Design Director Ken DeLago, Director of Photography Christian Iooss and Fashion Director Marty Hackel, who was on site for the shoot.

Now, your letters.

Dear Editor,
My 21-year-old daughter, who is trying to get her life together, called me the other day. "Mom," she said, "I am so glad that Tiger Woods, who seemed to be so perfect, is messed up. That means I am okay." She is not, nor is he. I hope that your company, a role model with social responsibilty, will take recent events into consideration as it chooses who to use as a public face.

-- Blaze Huston

Dear Editor,
Tiger Woods is a great golfer and a great contributor to Golf Digest. I am a longtime subscriber to your magazine. In light of recent events, Tiger has reminded us that he too, although almost inhumanly having mastered a masterless game, is human. While there are people who will judge him for his alledged indiscretions, I hope that the editorial staff at Golf Digest will refrain.

Let's keep the golf separate from the tabloid free-for-all. I am not condoning his activities because I don't know what they were and besides, that would be judgmental. I want to say I support him, and I want to continue to read his "tips" in Golf Digest.

-- Jim Merrell, Honolulu, HI

Dear Editor,
Certainly hope you will have a lot less coverage of Tiger. He may know golf, but he doesn't understand fidelity, nor does he seem to understand that with the kind of money he takes in, he owes the paying public an honest answer. Sure hope he becomes a decent citizen or that you discontinue doing business with him.

-- Pat Schmidt, Indiana

Dear Editor,
Tiger is only human. He is now in the 60th percentile of married men, who indulge extra-marital affairs... He should stem the storm of controversy and put to rest all speculation just as Letterman did from the beginning. Privacy is utmost to him; however, being evasive is not the way to go.

-- Vito Caselnova, Bayshore, N.Y.

Dear Editor,
Would someone please tell Tiger that marital infidelity is not a mistake. It's a character flaw.

-- Penny Carter, Duluth, GA

Dear Editor,
I write asking that your company NOT let go of Mr. Woods as an endorser. We as humans all go through rough patches. The difference being that, for most of us our private lives, errors and all, are not plastered all over the news. I am not a sports nor a golf fan but I am a fan of fairness. I believe he deserves your continued support. Thank you.

-- Randy Rhamy, La Junta, CO