Still bigger than golf, and that's not good

When last seen playing competitive golf, Tiger Woods was bigger than the game.

When he's seen next month at the Masters he'll be even bigger.

Not necessarily for the better.

The public can't wait for this next chapter of the Woods saga, and TV can't wait to provide it.

Woods earned his privileges. But, sorry, they have become just a bit uncomfortable because, well, haven't we always heard that nobody is bigger than his sport?

Albert Pujols isn't in baseball. Peyton Manning isn't in the NFL. LeBron James isn't in the NBA.

Michael Jordan? Boy, he was close. The NBA massaged him, but at least Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf never turned the franchise over to him.

As big as golf beacon Arnold Palmer and golf champion Jack Nicklaus were, neither tried to act bigger than the sport.

Woods never was reluctant to do that, not since the first day he played as a pro with more guaranteed endorsement money than most athletes earn in a lifetime.

The guy was so good a player and so much an attraction that nobody seemed to mind his inclination to become golf instead of merely play it.

In retrospective we should have minded because treating somebody as bigger than his sport isn't healthy.

Athletes come. Sports are here. Athletes go. Sports are still here.

However, the appearance has been that Woods is golf and when he doesn't want to play anymore golf won't be golf anymore. It's never good when a sport needs an athlete more than the athlete needs the sport.

Woods said last month at his designer media event that his personal misbehavior resulted from a sense of entitlement.

The same sense - or perhaps nonsense - resulted in him doing nearly everything in golf on his terms.

The game benefited, but when somebody is as huge as Woods, his sport needs him to play as often as physically possible. Instead his playing schedule was relatively limited at the expense of other tournaments that needed him.

That was OK when we thought Woods was spending his spare time back home with the family and on the practice range. We found out differently the past few months, didn't we?

Meanwhile, Woods catered more to his own sponsors than to tournament sponsors. He talked to fans, media and fellow players essentially when it suited him. His conduct compromised decorum on the course.

Since Woods is wealthier than many corporations, let's put this in corporate terms: Everybody enabled him because he was too big to fail.

Woods' interests were more important than golf's interests. He certainly was a blessing for the sport, but the sport was awfully good to him, too.

Last month Woods thanked the PGA Tour, commissioner Tim Finchem and his fellow players for their "patience and understanding."

It would be nice if Woods repaid them by returning to the top of golf instead of above it. I'm not optimistic judging by Tuesday's panting over his announced return.

It still looks like everything will be more about him than about golf and Woods will become even bigger than simply bigger than the game.

mimrem@dailyherald.com