This isn’t going to be about golf, but something that happened yesterday might help make the point I want to pursue.
On the 12th hole at Augusta National Sunday, Tiger Woods had the worst hole of his long career.
The hole is a par three, and Woods put three different shots into the water and wound up shooting a 10.
Now I’ve shot 10s before — I’ve done even worse than that — and many of you probably have too. But Woods was the best player in the world for some years, and he even shocked the golf world by winning the Masters just last year.
He had never shot a 10 before.
That score took him from 3-under par to 4-over par. Since the guy who won the tournament finished 20-under par, it wasn’t like Woods was in contention.
The fascinating things about it, though, is that he had six holes left to play and he birdied five of them.
He had never done that before, either.
So what’s the point that has nothing to do with golf?
Well, you’ve doubtless heard the phrase that says you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s true, but something else worth remembering is that people will remember you for a long time based on the last impression they have of you.
That’s why if Donald Trump isn’t careful, even people who don’t despise him will remember him primarily as a crybaby who wouldn’t admit that he took a sound thrashing in the 2020 presidential election. I’m not sure he ever had a good side, but giving people such a long look at the very worst of him won’t help if he ever plans to run for office again.
It’s tough to say too much about Woods’ amazing finish at Augusta. I can’t help wondering if anyone ever did that in the Masters, especially at such an adverse moment. It’s hard to picture someone dealing with the emotions on shooting a 10 and then right away turning it around and being nearly perfect for the rest of the round.
As for Trump, I can’t imagine him conceding graciously at this point. I would guess the best we would get from him is saying the election was stolen from him, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
Where does that leave the people who voted for him. I think the hard-core types, the ones who should be wearing tin foil on their heads, will weep for what was done to that poor man. The crowd that would rather see any Republican in the White House over a Democrat, might mourn the loss.
But the folks nearer to the middle, the ones who vote for some Republicans and some Democrats and voted for Trump, those people might shake their heads and think, “Jeez, what a loon!”
They’re the ones Trump will miss if he ever runs again.
Americans hate sore losers.