This time last week, we had all been reminded of “the look”. Tiger Woods, with eyes transfixed on the prize over four days at Augusta, was to win a fifth Green Jacket at the age of 43 and words can barely do justice to the scale of his personal and professional rejuvenation.

Once upon a time, Woods regarded “the look” as something else entirely. In a book marking the 20th anniversary of his first Masters victory in 1997 he used the term to depict attitudes towards him – some spoken, some not so – as he appeared at predominantly or exclusively white golf clubs in his youth. Woods was introduced to segregation, be it in changing rooms or clubhouse lounges, from the moment he became competitive.

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“I’d been hearing things in tournaments since I was seven or eight years old,” he added. “People said things to me between green and tee, when they could get close to me. I saw but didn’t see. I heard but didn’t hear. Golf has no colour barrier when it comes to score, and who wins and who loses. There’s no judging. Lowest score wins. I had total control over that.”

It was bold of Woods via the same medium to admit how unimpressed he was on his first visit to Magnolia Lane. “Maybe I was underwhelmed because the club had excluded black golfers for so long.” Twenty-two years on, as Woods paraded his jacket, the background scene was so noticeably white. Augusta National admitted its first black member in 1990 and there have been several since but this remains a club where the colour split between patrons and those carrying out menial tasks is as stark as it is distressing.

Fred Ridley, the Augusta chairman, proved a disappointment when asked on the eve of the 83rd Masters whether another form of previous membership restriction, against women, was a mistake. Ridley, who had spent earlier parts of his press conference gladly dancing back through history – “come Sunday, just as it has been since 1934, someone’s life will be forever changed” – suddenly insisted his focus was on the future. Woods’s now penultimate, widely celebrated victory came on the outskirts of another Georgian city, Atlanta, which had a last reported 54% black or African American demographic.

Days on from Woods’s Masters glory, the RBC Heritage event teed off in South Carolina. In a field of 132, there was one notable participant: Harold Varner III. The 28-year-old has yet to win on the PGA Tour but has been its only regular African-American attendee since Woods burst on to the scene. Tony Finau, who partnered Woods in the final round at Augusta, is an American of Tongan and Samoan descent. Finau’s cousin, Jabari Parker, plays for the Washington Wizards in the NBA where black Americans are a constant. A glance at successful male US collegiate golf teams from recent years shows merely an abundance of white faces. Golf administration? The same.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harold Varner III has yet to win on the PGA Tour but has been its only regular African-American attendee since Tiger Woods burst on the scene. Photograph: Soobum Im/USA Today Sports

Figures produced by the National Golf Foundation in 2013 showed that out of a total of 25.7m golfers in the US, Hispanics accounted for 3.1m, Asians 1m and African-Americans 1.3m. There had been no meaningful Woods bounce factor. That the non-white junior players have increased to one in three from one in 17 between 1996 and 2006 highlights improvement but that is offset by the Varner III factor. Somewhere, these individuals are being lost or losing interest.

Children are typically aspirational through heroes. If Woods in his present form can prevent golf from being colour blind – and be proactive about it – this would be his greatest gift to his sport. It would also serve as a wonderful antidote not only to divided societies but those who once saw fit to abuse him.

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Maybe being Tiger Woods is a hectic enough existence without seeking to solve societal issues. Woods has taken a consistently guarded approach to issues of race. He describes himself as Cablinasian; a term he derived from a mixture of Caucasian, black, American Indian and Asian. Arguably this is unhelpful; Woods thereby extricates himself from racial issues with his own distinct category. He has always given the impression of deliberately wanting to avoid being a political symbol. Woods has played golf with US presidents, including Donald Trump, under the auspice of “respecting the office”. When asked about his impact on golf last Sunday evening, Woods’s reply related to fellow professionals taking on serious gym routines. Euphoria can blur the mind but this would be a grim legacy.

Woods, unlike most, holds sway far beyond sport and realistically beyond most politicians. He has also expressed regret that his Masters glory of 1997 did not resonate as he had hoped. “It would have been naive of me to think my win would mean the end of ‘the look’ when a person from any minority walked into some golf clubs, especially the game’s private clubs,” Woods said. “I only hoped my win, and how I won, might put a dent in the way people perceived black people. I hoped my win would open some doors for minorities. My biggest hope, though, was that we could one day see one another as people and people alone. I wanted us to be colour blind. Twenty years later that has yet to happen.”

In April of 2019, a billboard depicting a triumphant Woods sat high above Times Square. The Tiger appeal has never wilted. It should be reasonable to suggest he, and a sport still dogged by negative perceptions, even belatedly uses that for a greater good.