Which is what makes his selection as the Associated Press male athlete of the year a joke. There are at least two dozen real athletes, who compete in real sports, who are more worthy than Woods of the honor he received for the third time - and who also should be embarrassed and upset that supposed sports experts would consider Woods the nation's top male athlete. Golfers are no more athletes than stock-car drivers, or bowlers, or chess players. Golfers' competition is much more mental than physical. It lacks a lot of elements of true sport.
Golfers walk around for about four hours on a sunny afternoon hitting a ball with a stick.
They don't even have to look for the ball, and they have someone carry their clubs for them. In golf, there's no contact. Golfers don't have anybody chasing them while they hit the ball, throwing the ball at them or constantly challenging them both mentally and physically in a competition so heated that it takes every ounce of energy and athleticism one can muster to survive. While Woods was walking 300 yards at a time before stopping for a banana and some water, Armstrong was riding a bike up the Alps at a record speed. Any member of any NHL, NFL or NBA team also is a better athlete than Tiger Woods is.