ONCE upon a time – and not so long ago – the world of golf would be taut with anticipation on this weekend as a supreme competitor donned his red shirt on a Sunday and laid waste to par at the Masters.

Once upon a time – and a little bit longer ago – that tyro would not have been allowed on the Augusta course. There are many elements to the spectacular, sometimes gaudy story of Tiger Eldrick Woods. The matter of race is one of them.

This week has witnessed the awful, dispiriting evidence in the George Floyd case. The testimony explained in excruciating detail how a black man lost his life on a Minneapolis street after lying for nine minutes 29 seconds with a policeman's knee on his neck.

Georgia, the host to the Masters, is also the centre of voting reforms that are accused of making it more difficult for blacks to vote.

The story of Woods is, obviously, less serious. He lives on, albeit battered and bruised by a car accident that denies him the opportunity to return to Augusta in search of his sixth Masters title.

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Woods is an exemplar of that theory that posits that the descent from the heights for the supreme athlete can be precipitous and painful. But he is a victim, too, of racism. His riches, his celebrity did not protect him from that scourge. Indeed, it merely invited a series of criticisms that mostly, but not exclusively, had roots in race.

Woods was never one to seek the approval of press or fans. He was a man to be admired rather than revered. This is not unusual among outliers. But Woods was held to another standard. One of the greatest practitioners of his art, he was rewarded handsomely for what he did on a course and was hounded for what he did not say off it. He was also ultimately vilified and decried publicly for what are described primly as sexual indiscretions.

The first charge of a selective silence dogged Woods from the beginning of an extraordinary career. He was repeatedly entreated to speak out on racial issues. He declined to do so and was condemned for this stance.

Yet surely this was his right. His focus was to be a professional sportsman, not to be a statesman or a changer of society. Barack Obama served the cause of race equality well. But he would not break 100 at Augusta. Different folks, different strokes. An athlete can be an advocate for change in society. But the role is not mandatory. Woods had a choice. He made it in the same manner as Michael Jordan, the basketball star who was once subdued in his advocacy of civil rights.

The most awful episode, of course, was to follow Woods’ exposure as a serial adulterer. Augusta National is a club that was very slow in allowing an African American to join. The first person of colour became a member in 1990.

There had been reports of erstwhile members saying that club members should be white and the caddies should be black.

This was tawdry, racist history when Woods breezed up in 1997 and promptly won the tournament in what could be termed a stroll in terms of the margin of victory but was more akin to a triumphal march. This sparked a series of events that led to the club “Tiger proofing” the course in an attempt to limit the supremacy of long hitters such as Woods. The golfer could not be denied, however. He was regularly and wonderfully successful at Augusta. The Tiger could not be tamed.

He could be chastised, however. In 2010, in the wake of the revelations of Woods’ sexual relations with a series of women, the pre-eminent golfer of his generation apologised for his behaviour in a press conference. This was followed days later by Billy Payne, then chairman of the Augusta club, using the pre-tournament press conference to criticise Woods severely.

The hypocrisy, the obvious impropriety of the situation, was breathtaking.

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First, Woods had no need to apologise to the world. His repentance, his reparation – if he so decided – was to his wife and family. What does it matter to anyone else?

Second, Payne’s intervention was appalling. The idea that he was protecting the innocent young from the bad example of their hero is preposterous.

There have been many Masters champions who have been unfaithful to their wives, some of them transparently and obviously so. Their behaviour was not a cause of National Enquirer exposes or criticism by the chairman of the Augusta club. Indeed, they were and are held in high esteem by Augusta with nary a whisper of criticism. I will not name these players because their behaviour is a matter for them and their families.

But what was it about a person of colour having sexual relations with mostly white, blonde women that caused such an uproar in Georgia and beyond?

The answer is surely obvious. A black commentator described Payne’s comments on Woods as a “public whipping”. The description is apt. Woods was hauled out in front of the world and condemned for behaviour that will be reprehensible to some but no business of a sporting authority or its spokesman.

Augusta is resplendent this week. It always is. The azaleas, the verdant greens, the best of the world’s golfers all combine to conjure up a sporting scene of enduring intrigue and great beauty.

But there is a lingering stain of ugliness, too. Racism stretches from the street to the most exclusive arenas. The victims have always known this. We should recognise it too.

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