Tiger Woods: A Vignette

I am a Tiger Woods fan, despite all his scandals. He is the only player I like and know of who participates in one of my favorite sports: golf! Yes, I do actually play golf! I find personal scandals irrelevant when appreciating an athelete. I happen to also be a huge fan of Frank Ribery, the Bayern Munich soccer player, who had his share of negative press. They are both excellent sportsmen, and my family and I follow them closely.

Yesterday, I took the  Dubai metro with my children, literally from our apartment building to the Emirates Golf Club. At the metro-kiosque, the teller shyly asked me, while batting her lashes: "Will you see Tiger Woods?" Indeed, we were heading to a low-publicized par-3 competition that preceeds the Dubai Desert Classic. Tiger Woods was one of the six players. He was teamed up with Mark O'Meara, for the American
team. Go USA!



My son and I usually play and practice at the Dubai Creek Club. But we frequent Emirates Golf Club a lot because we play the large Faldo course with our friends there and we much prefer the par-3 course because it is more challenging than our own small one at the Creek Club.



When we followed Tiger Woods from one hole to the other, my son and I knew the course intimately, for having played it dozens of times. The champion was gracing "our course" and we had to see what the best of the best could do on a course we were very comfortable playing on. So how close to the hole can he swing it? Will his putting overcome the difficult slopes on the green?



My son ran frantically from one hole to the other to secure the best views. His sister got lost trying to keep up with him.I simply walked the course, admiring the winning game of a champion, realizing that he wasn't as nerdy looking as I'd imagined but charming enough to make any woman, including the ticket seller at the metro, swoon and bat her lashes.