This time in Australia. One of these days, he’s going to hurt somebody. Tim Finchem, call your office. You have a problem. From the announcer, “His temper has been the subject of much debate in recent times.”
From another prominent pundit, “He’s worse now than ever.”
From Woods himself when asked about it by me at this year’s PGA Championship, “I’m not the only one who does it.”
Yes, you are Tiger. Who else has thrown two clubs into crowds and been publicly excoriated by the family of Old Tom morris for poor behavior at the Open Championship? No one else, that’s who.
As Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports wrote, “See that? The fans applauding Woods? That’s why he gets away with tossing clubs. Look, I’m a huge Woods fan, but this club-tossing garbage has to stop. The cussing doesn’t bother me at all; the guy is human, and everybody gets frustrated enough to let a word or two out now and then. But the club-tossing is beneath him.
The problem is, the way that everyone perceives Tiger allows this stuff to perpetuate. It’s high time that we stop taking Tiger Woods as an all-or-nothing package. You can’t just excuse his on-course actions like this “because he’s competitive” or “because other golfers do it” or “because they used to do it like this in the old days.” The guy’s got enough control to stick a ball to within inches of a cup from 200 yards out — you’re telling me he doesn’t have the control to keep a club in his hand after his backswing?”
As Peter Kostis once said about Woods – after Woods tried to black-ball him after he famously quipped “Tiger’s report card from school must have said ‘does not play well with others’ – “One of these days, that’s kid’s gonna have to grow up.”
