By Ryan Lewis, Akron Beacon Journal –
AKRON, Ohio — Every summer for the past three years, the Arnold family has made the five-hour trip from York, Pa., to watch Tiger Woods play golf at Firestone Country Club.
After Woods made par on the par-3 12th hole Thursday — another missed birdie chance and another lifeless reaction — Christine Arnold told 9-year-old son Elijah: “Don’t worry, son. We’ll get you a fist pump.”
This is Elijah’s second year to see his favorite player, and he hasn’t had the chance to experience one of Woods’ trademark fist pumps in person. No surprise, since Woods struggled last year in his first full tournament back after a four-month absence.
Young Elijah deserves to view one of the famous fist pumps live probably more than anybody.
After all, his middle name is Tiger.
“We picked his middle name because we wanted to name him after who would be the greatest golfer of all time,” Christine said.
Elijah has been swinging a golf club since he was in diapers. His first two words were “Mom” and “Dad.” The third? “Tiger.”
“It would mean a lot to me (to see a fist pump) because that’s why I’m here,” said Elijah, who was wearing a black hat with the Tiger Woods “TW” logo, identical to the one his mom wore Thursday to the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “I want to see him play and really want to see that, too. I think he’s confident and cool.”
Christine began cheering for Woods because of what he stood for and the barriers he could break down, both in golf and society. She hates golf, actually, but wanted Woods to enter the sport and crush records and stigmas.
Christine’s grandfather was “very racist” and claimed golf as a “white-man’s sport.”
“My grandfather always said that about white guys and golf, and then Tiger came along,” she said. “My grandfather passed away two months before he turned pro, so I started to root for Tiger just to prove my grandfather wrong.”
Christine, her husband, Brian, and Elijah all still feel comfortable calling Woods their “hero.” To them, Woods’ actions of a decade overshadow a couple of very ugly and very public mistakes.
“It had nothing to do with golf,” she said of Woods’ infidelity and ensuing divorce. “I was disappointed in him, sure, but it didn’t affect me as a fan. His foundation and everything, and how he truly cared about kids, that’s what matters. I liked how he really wanted to make a difference in kids’ lives, not just golf.”
She says Elijah doesn’t know about Woods’ recent off-the-course activities, but even if he was aware of what happened, she’d have no problem with him wearing this “TW” gear as much as he does.
“If he asked, I would tell him that (Woods) is human and we all make mistakes,” she said. “Not all of us have to go through our mistakes with the whole entire world watching. He holds his head up high all the time and doesn’t verbally attack people, regardless of the books some people write about him.”
Christine isn’t the only one sticking by Woods’ side and cheering on his golf game. Hundreds of other fans followed Woods on Thursday at Firestone South in a crowd similar to the ones that blanketed the course when Woods was winning this tournament every year
As for Elijah, he never got his fist pump. Woods struggled with his putter and finished at par, 7 strokes off the lead. The Arnolds will return to York on Saturday morning, so Friday is their last chance this time to see the fist pump.
After Woods missed a makeable birdie putt on 15 and walked by Elijah, he still stayed positive and said, “Nice putt, Tiger.” Woods briefly turned his head and said “Thank you” as he passed, and Elijah broke out with a big smile and high-fived his father.
It’s enough to carry him over to next year’s visit, fist-pump or not.
Woods gave himself plenty of opportunities to make a run up the leaderboard Thursday with a nice day off the tee and a handful of approach shots he stuck inside 15 feet, but couldn’t convert several makeable putts.
“I just hit bad putts today,” he said. “My speed was off. The putts that I pured, I didn’t make. And then the bad putts didn’t have a chance.”
After birdies at the 10th and 11th holes to bring him to 3 under, Woods bogeyed No. 13, bogeyed No. 16 after his ball landed near a cart path and then three-putted the 18th for another bogey.
