Tiger Is a Mess. Why Are We Surprised?

Not since 2009 has there been so much talk about Tiger Woods' fall from grace. There might even be more talk this time around given that Woods' arrest for DUI on Monday is just the latest scandal to plague him—and there's now a mugshot in the mix. What columnists are saying about it and the golfer in general:

• The sex scandal that tarnished Woods' reputation in 2009 was bad. Given the dangers involved, "this is worse," writes Christine Brennan at USA Today. In comparing Woods' mugshot to a photo of Woods after his 1997 Masters win, she adds "the very public demise of one of the greatest athletic icons of this or any generation" is clear, and it's "sad, horrifying, unacceptable, shocking."
• But Damien Cox wonders why anyone would be shocked by the DUI charge when "we don't know, and never knew, any of the really important stuff about Woods." The superstar athlete might have seemed appealing at the height of his career, Cox writes at the Toronto Star. But like OJ Simpson, Woods' "public persona was completely at odds with who he really was."

• Ed Graney agrees. There can be no fall from grace because the grace associated with Woods was imaginary, he writes at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The portrait of a "once-in-a-lifetime athlete" with a gorgeous wife and happy family was "the greatest myth of all" and this latest scandal only serves to remind us that Tiger "is like most of us. Human. Flawed. Sort of a mess."
• Scott Ostler, meanwhile, thinks Woods should get some advice from John Daly. Woods' former rival drinks, smokes, and is overweight, but he has "a life with fun and meaning, a female companion, and even good golf." With a tip from Daly, Woods' next win might be on the course, rather than "in the 'Scariest Police Mug Shot' contest," Ostler writes at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here's what Woods had to say about his arrest. (More Tiger Woods stories.)