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I generally stay out of these recurring "Is he an athlete?/Is it a sport?" arguments because folks want to argue over terms they are unwilling to define. It can not help but be circular.
Wikipedia (who needs Mirriam-Webster) defines an athlete specifically as a competitor in athletics and defines athletics as track and field events.
However, their more general definition of athlete is a "sportsperson" - which is any person who participates in a sport. A sport is then defined as an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
Until someone comes up with a better definition I submit that Tiger is every bit as much an athlete as anyone this side of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
I would further submit that those who disagree have an as yet unarticulated definition of "sport/athlete" in mind that somewhere includes the stated or implied phrases "not golf/not golfers" and can therefore not be persuaded to the contrary.
All that said, I watched my grandson graduate from Safety Town today and am well prepared to lead a rousing chorus of "The arguments in this thread go round and round, round and round, round and round...."
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