Written by Justin Dunk

Step into the shoes of Tiger Woods for a minute.

It is too easy for an overweight couch potato to call out Tiger Woods for all of his transgressions.

A man is only as faithful as his options. None of us really know what Woods has to deal with in his everyday life.

Woods has been under a microscope ever since he appeared as a two year-old golf prodigy on the nationally televised Mike Douglas Show. After appearing on the program, Woods lived much differently from the proverbial “normal life.”

On Feb. 19, Woods finally broke his long silence since he crashed his SUV into a tree outside of his Florida home, and all of his marital affairs became public knowledge. Many of us have seen the Tiger story explode all over different media outlets throughout the world. Woods’ prepared statement apologized publicly to his family, the media, the people who work for his foundation and the young kids who have held him up as a role model.

Woods was raised on strict rules by his father Earl Woods, and when his father died, it has been said that Woods first realized all the freedoms of the world. Earl was the person Woods looked to for the all of his answers. Once he was by himself, Woods no longer had his father to guide him, and suddenly he could do whatever he wanted without any discipline from his father.

Woods has grown up to be one of the most recognizable athletes on the entire planet and has earned over one billion dollars during his professional career. Let’s face it: all of this money and fame makes him an attractive target for women. Seems to me that he would have women following him around every place he goes.

The issue that is lost in all of Woods’ affairs is that the women he cheated with are just as much at fault as he is, and Woods has no obligation to the world to apologize just because he is a high profile athlete. All of the women knew Woods was married yet they still pursued a relationship with the famous golfer. By no means am I saying he is innocent, but these women are at fault as well. They should not be painted as victims of a sex-obsessed man. If these women were not also pursuing Woods, maybe there would not have been any temptation for Woods to ever have these affairs.

Woods must deal with events in his life that ‘normal’ people will never understand. The argument that Woods deserves the onslaught of criticisms because he chose to live a public life is inherently false. Who are we kidding? Woods never chose this life, he was pushed into not only by his father but society. Everyone expected the child prodigy to turn pro. Everyone expected him to sign endorsements deals.  He had no choice. And when he failed, like so many other people do, he should not have to pay anymore because he is worth millions and because he has a public life he really didn’t choose.

Although there are many different opinions of Woods, I’m sure we can all agree that mastering perfection in life may be just as hard as mastering the game of golf.

In Woods’ statement he gave no indication of when he is set to return to golf. When Woods does make his return to the course, it will be a spectacle that will attract attention from his detractors and supporters alike. I bet when Tiger gets dressed for his first golf round back, he will put his golf pants on one leg at a time.