The criticism of Woods for being caught on camera passing a tampon to playing partner Justin Thomas during the opening round at Riviera was justified. Yet should it have surprised us from a performer who has been caught regularly spitting on camera and been guilty of a litany of scandalous liaisons?

His critics hammered him publicly, simply because they could, through various platforms. And the same critics no doubt thrilled to his magnetic performance in carding rounds of 69, 74, 67, 73 for a share of 45th place behind Jon Rahm on Sunday.

We inhabit a strange world. There’s been very little publicity about an incident behind the 17th green on the Saturday at Riviera. That was where a young girl named Madelyn Quinn held up a poster proclaiming ‘My Bucket List’ of three items. The first was, Get Heart Transplant with an accompanying box already ticked. The second was, Meet Tiger Woods, which was formally ticked by the player himself who also signed a glove for her. The third, Play Augusta, is as yet unfulfilled, but through El Tigre’s influence we imagine it won’t be for long.

Prior to the Thomas incident, which Woods described as fun, the last time I can recall an item publicly passing between leading players with the “fun” objective during the heat of battle, happened almost 52 years ago. That was at lunchtime in the 1971 US Open at Merion, where a large crowd had gathered around the first tee awaiting a play-off between Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus.

​In an attempt at relieving the tension, Trevino remembered that his daughter had left a toy snake in his golf bag. Which prompted him to grab it and toss it towards Nicklaus. That was when a woman’s screams caused the Bear to almost fall off his seat with laughter. As it happened, he outscored his opponent on the opening hole but Trevino went on to win the title with a 68 against 71.

I’m sure there were intensely religious competitors on the golf scene back then, but it is only relatively recently that we have become familiar with players publicly declaring their Christianity. As Langer did in Florida last weekend.

The 65-year-old German claimed to have taken comfort in a verse from Proverbs 3, which he wrote down and carried throughout Sunday, “to encourage me.” It says: “I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge Him, and He will make my path straight.” Langer talked of accurate driving allowing his path to be pretty straight throughout the tournament.

Among those in his wake was Pádraig Harrington, tied second with Steve Stricker. There was no talk of prayer from the Dubliner, but I remember a typically thoughtful reply from him when asked about such matters some years ago, prior to his Major triumphs.

“I wouldn’t pray to say please can I win this week, but I might pray to ask for my work to pay off,” he said. Explaining the player’s exemplary reaction to challenges on and off the course, the eminent psychologist, Dr Bob Rotella, said: “Pádraig’s parents taught him well and he had the good sense to listen to them.”

As for Woods: when considering events like the tampon incident, I’m reminded of the American screenwriter and novelist, Jim Harrison, and his experience while on a Mediterranean cruise with the actor Jack Nicholson. “We would be in a tiny port and all these women would be screaming: ‘I love you, Jack. I’m yours Jack,’” said Harrison. “What does that do to your head?”

Whether displaying their skills on grass or on screen, stars have to cope with very different pressures to the rest of us. Which some of them clearly handle better than others. Yet we continue to be fascinated by the enduring skills of Woods, while wondering what the future may hold for him. His prospects seem to be governed by two key factors — his 47 years and his physical well-being.

Comparisons with the great Ben Hogan are inevitable though not necessarily valid. As Jaime Diaz observed in Golf Digest: “Hogan might have held up Merion [1950 US Open] as his proudest achievement and called Carnoustie [1953 Open Championship] his greatest pleasure, but as an artist of the game, he believed that his pre-accident golf was his finest work.”

In a CBS interview with one-time contemporary Ken Venturi, Hogan spoke in detail about his recovery from the horrific injuries sustained in the car crash of February 1949. Referring to the crucial first 11 months in recovery he said, “Finally, I got to where I could play a little bit. Not as good as I could before. And I don’t think I will ever play as good, or ever have since, even though I won some tournaments. I was better in 1948 and ’49 than I’ve ever been.”

​

Butch Harmon never saw the ball-striking of those pre-accident years. Yet he still felt moved to remark: “Until Tiger came along, I’d never seen a good player with body speed as fast as Mr Hogan’s. That’s why he ruined so many emulators. As open as he got the club on the downswing, he needed tremendous speed to get it back to square.”

This is probably the biggest challenge that Woods faces — an acceptance that his best golfing days are gone, never to return. And that’s notwithstanding how well his right leg may recover from the crash of two years ago.

Meanwhile, Hogan optimistically observed: “If you are not a gentleman, golf will teach you how to be a gentleman. It will teach you how to think and how to progress. And if you can progress in golf, you can progress in anything in the world, because you have trained your body and you have trained your mind. Pitting your ability against the course can make you a better person, because you have to concentrate and figure out how to do certain things.”

He went on: “I can’t do as much practice as I did before, but I still go out by myself sometimes and hit nine irons and eight irons and pick up the golf balls just for the exercise. I thoroughly enjoy it.”

Those words were spoken to the PGA Tour’s Tom Place in May 1990, three months prior to Hogan’s 78th birthday. Which gives young Mr Woods plenty of time to learn.