Tiger Woods Plays Through D.C.'s Political Sand Traps
His new Washington tourney stirs talk of bigger ambitions
He is America's most popular sports star, with favorability ratings that would make George Bush and other politicians wince with envy. Now Tiger Woods, the world's top golfer and a homegrown athletic-cultural phenomenon, is going to play the host at his own tournament in the Washington, D.C., area. And through the Fourth of July week, no less. "It's our nation's birthday. It can't get any better than that," says Woods.
His AT&T National tournament is steeped in American and Washington symbolism. Staged on the verdant fairways of Congressional Country Club—a club founded by two congressmen with a helping hand from Herbert Hoover—it looks poised to become another Independence Day mainstay in the nation's capital, joining fireworks and patriotic music on the National Mall. This event, however, will be a 21st-century Washington happening that draws luminaries from the worlds of sport, politics, celebrity, and, of course, money. The Tiger Woods Foundation, his education-focused charity, is the primary beneficiary.
Woods is dedicating his golf bash to the nation's military men and women; his late father, Earl, was one of them (a Green Beret in Vietnam). Service members (as well as children under 12) can attend free. "I want to make a very ardent outreach to the men and women who serve our country," he says.
The injection of "Tigermania" into buttoned-down official Washington has been a sight to behold. When Woods strode through Capitol Hill in March to visit leading lawmakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, hushed conversations stopped, and heads turned. By establishing a place on the Washington scene, Woods has inevitably revived speculation that, someday, he might carry his popularity and success into the political arena, following the paths of such athletes turned lawmakers as Democrat Bill Bradley and Republican Jack Kemp. Perhaps, that is, after he completes his quest to win more major golf championships than anyone else in history.
On Capitol Hill, Woods showed skill in not conclusively answering the political question. Having said, "My plate is pretty full," he offered, "I don't know what the future holds for me." Part of Woods's full plate: His wife, Elin, gave birth last week to their first child, daughter Sam Alexis. He was asked in May about whether he thinks about running for president. "Hell, no," he said with a chuckle. "Nooooo."
Still, Woods, 31, shows a knack for using his golfing stature to tap political figures when useful. Bill Clinton helped inaugurate the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, Calif. Another golfing former commander in chief, George H. W. Bush, will launch the first drive at Woods's pro-am on Independence Day. The current President Bush met Woods at last year's President's Cup dinner and counts himself as an admirer of his golf and charity work.
Enigma. For would-be political image-makers, Woods offers some top-flight raw material. He is a telegenic emblem for success through bootstrapping hard work. A product of childhood play on public golf courses in Southern California, he brings to the table a famous work ethic and competitive toughness, along with a multiracial, middle-class background. All his work has paid off handsomely, netting an estimated personal wealth exceeding $650 million.
And yet Woods presents an enigmatic face to the public, in both his politics and his private side. He holds comment on politics and race to a minimum. His party loyalty, if any, is unclear. Friends have described Woods as something of a control freak. And though as practiced as most politicians at parrying media queries, he would need to trim his expectations for shielding his family from scrutiny were he ever to enter politics. That could be a challenge: His yacht is named Privacy.
Others sense wide potential in the Woods phenomenon. A seminar at Duke University in March was devoted to his societal and global impact. In 1996, Earl Woods predicted to Sports Illustrated that his son's reach would extend well beyond golf: "Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity."
A father's hyperbole, in all likelihood. But Tiger Woods runs one youth program called "Start Something." In his own upbringing, it seems, his family had something big in mind for him as well.
This story appears in the July 2, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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