Let Tiger play in peace

Tiger Woods just wants to play golf.\nWhat's so wrong with that?\nPlenty, The New York Times seems to think. Monday's Times staff editorial urged the three-time Masters winner to boycott the tournament in order to send a message to Augusta National President William Johnson that professional golf doesn't endorse the course's exclusion of female members. The Times seems to think that Woods' leverage is just what liberal America needs to turn Johnson and his wayward golf club around.\nMaybe. \nBut what if Tiger doesn't want to?\nWoods certainly shouldn't be condemned if he doesn't want to become the figurehead of the contemporary women's rights movement. He's a golf player, not a social advocate. Being in the public eye doesn't automatically require a person to endorse every moral crusade that comes his way. \nAs an African American golfer who dominates a mostly white sport, Woods is already assumed to represent minority athletes breaking barriers everywhere -- a position he has represented with grace and dignity, not sensationalism. Golf is Woods' career. \nThere are pictures of a three-year-old Woods with his father sporting a golf club. Golf is all he knows and all he wants to know. Why should he give that up?\nWoods has given no indication that he plans on boycotting the Masters in protest of Augusta National's policies. In fact, he's straddled the fence on the issue in interviews. Woods doesn't want to become embroiled in the debate, and that's his choice. He just wants to win the Masters again.\nDon't pin the responsibility for changing Augusta National on Tiger Woods. Though arguably the best golfer around, he is only one man. The Times isn't pressuring Phil Mickelson to boycott the tourney. They aren't singling out the rest of the PGA golfers, and they barely heckle CBS and the rest of the tournament sponsors for the money they are making off of Augusta National. Certainly CBS' refusal to televise the tournament would have the same sort of effect that Woods' absence would, just as a boycott by several other high profile golfers might.\nBottom line, Woods is an athlete. Whether or not he believes in Augusta National's policies, he's in the game to win and make money. He's made no other pretense. Don't pin the tail on the celebrity to do the job of the masses. Perhaps if the public was making as much of an uproar as the news media and certain women's rights advocates, Sandra Day O'Connor could be a member of Augusta National right now. A certain New York newspaper thinks she has a great golf game.\n-- Erin Nave for the Editorial Board