Vijay, Tiger And The Hacks

Long before Tigermania gripped the golf world in its claws, Vijay Singh was busy honing his craft on the remote, tropical isle of Fiji.

When he joined the PGA Tour in 1992, Singh's ethnicity (he's a Fijian of Indian descent) was rarely brought up by members of the media, unlike that of his rival--Tiger Woods.

Back in 1996, at the onset of Tigermania, the media incessantly played up Woods' ethnicity, to the point where Tiger released a one-time-only statement about the matter, explaining his heritage to the press (his father is African-American, his mother Thai), then asking them to back off.

But why was race an issue for the media with Woods, and not with Singh? Was it because Singh wasn't of African-American descent, and thus deemed inconsequential by the U.S. media, where racial matters are often seen in black and white? He certainly is darker in skin tone than Woods.

Singh broke a number of barriers being the first Indian to win a PGA Tournament as well as the first to win majors on the PGA Tour, yet, unlike Tiger, his race was barely touched on.

It's refreshing not to see racial matters raised by members of the press, but at the same time, it strikes me as odd. Singh joined the PGA Tour before Woods, and nary a peep. Granted, Tiger's every move is watched by the press because of his undeniable golf skills, and along with that comes scrutiny from all sides and angles. Still, if the media is going to play up the fact that Tiger Woods is the first African-American to win the Masters, why didn't they mention the fact that Singh was the first Asian to win the Masters ... or the first Indian man to win the PGA Tournament? Is there a double standard within the media when it comes to minority golfers? In a sense, it seems like Singh hasn't received his due because of the press's indolence in mentioning his feats as a golfer of Indian descent. But it's a double-edged sword. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

So the question is, did the press choose not to make Singh's ethnicity an issue, or was the whole matter mishandled? If the press is given the benefit of the doubt, then we're witnessing a maturation process in how they cover athletes of color in a predominantly white sport.

And signs are pointing in that direction.

At the 2001 Tournament Players Championship (widely considered the "fifth major"), Woods defeated Singh by one stroke, and not a drop of ink was used to describe the two golfers as men of color doing battle in a big-time tournament.

In the past decade, sportswriters, and specifically those covering golf, have been presented with a relatively new phenomenon--men of color dominating the game of golf. And it's entirely plausible that they've learned from their reporting duffs and shanks and have straightened out their swing, particularly in matters of race.

As for Woods and Singh, the two perfectionists continue to dominate the PGA Tour. When Singh arrived in Augusta, Georgia to play in the 1995 Masters Tournament, a club member approached the towering Fijian and asked "Are you Tiger Woods?" Six years later, as Singh placed the green jacket over Woods' shoulders, that question was answered.

After writing for a number of university publications, I had the distinct privilege of contributing pieces to the first two issues of Urban Mozaik magazine. It was a move that kick-started my career in journalism, as I went on to work for the Toronto Star and toronto.com as an associate editor. In 1996, an essay of mine on the literature of Andy Warhol was included in a book titled The Critical Response to Andy Warhol. Two years later, I was awarded a new media fellowship from the Newspaper Association of America, which afforded me new insights into the world of online journalism. I'm currently a senior editor for Citysearch.com in Orlando, Florida.

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