So Irene Folstrom is defending Tiger Woods, is she?
Let’s think about this. It’s easy to be cynical when celebrities make mistakes on the public stage, then come before the people with a suitably passionate mea culpa. Tiger Woods did, although some would substitute “robotic” for “passionate.” I believed that he was truly sorry, no matter how rehearsed it was. But most people I talk to are scathing in their condemnation of what they believed to be a tightly controlled farce. I wonder if they’ve approached money lenders to help them afford all of the high blood pressure medication they no doubt require.
Irene Folstrom thought he was “a great boyfriend”
According to her published letter in Golf Magazine, Irene Folstrom dated Tiger Woods while the two were undergraduates at Stanford University, but she hasn’t spoken to him since the late 1990s, when Tiger left college to become a pro golfer. She claims she is now coming forward not because she wants fame or money – although some will still speculate that Tiger’s PR people found her and paid her to jump on the wagon. No, she claims she is simply “standing up for a friend.”
Tiger, Irene and the simple life
Stories of where they ate, where they played and the relationship Irene had with Earl and Tida Woods lend a definite air of authenticity to Irene Folstrom’s letter. They sound like they were innocent kids who enjoyed being in love. Folstrom describes the Tiger she knew as “loyal, devoted and self-controlled.” She’s shocked by his recent string of serial infidelity, his double life, but she isn’t surprised by how closed Tiger has been to the public.
“I will say that Tiger had an ability to shut things out and compartmentalize his emotions. Even back then he felt enormous pressure to be Tiger Woods. Maybe this was his form of escape,” she writes.
Remember what I said about cynicism?
Few people will excuse Tiger Woods for what he did to his wife and family. I do not fall within that circle; I am merely a fan of his skill on the golf course. I also used to appreciate Tiger Woods’ clean image off the course (he’s rather foul-mouthed and explosive on the links). Now I look forward to the day he will play again – even though he doesn’t need the money now – and hope that he can make amends, at the very least with his children. I want to believe that Irene Folstrom’s letter is genuine, as she says it is. You believe what you want. Folstrom says he has “a caring heart” and deserves a second chance. I say we should accentuate the positive.
(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/ / CC BY 2.0)
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I am Irene’s father. I knew tiger during there relationship. I remenber Tiger being very respective to me and our family. His mother and father raised a son with high values and morals. You knew this when u talked to him. He bacame famous and well know in a very short period of time. Is this a blessing or burden in life. Most of us well never know how this affects your priorities. I hope and pray that he understands that fame is nothing without happiness and family.
Thank you for your reply, Brent. That's the image I always had of Tiger Woods myself, even though I am admittedly an outsider. I too hope he changes his ways and receives the help he likely needs. His family deserves a good father and husband, if the latter is even possible anymore.
When I watched Tiger's "press conference," I found that while it was most definitely rehearsed, Tiger was believable. What I'm stunned to read coming from your daughter is that he was not controlling of her in their relationship. I'm glad he wasn't (as Irene says)… it just doesn't seem to fit his profile. This is what we get with ultra-private people who work hard to control every ounce of information let out – just pieces of a man. Regardless, I hope he becomes better, as I whole father to his children.