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Watching Woods
is Painful
By: Dan Moschetti (Golf Guy)
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August 27, 2001
Is it just me, or does that scowl on Tiger Woods' face
make you want to scream, too. How about his tossing
clubs at Steve Williams his caddie. Or what about that
Cheshire grin when he puts one to his opponent.
Then there's the theatrics whenever he hits a bad shot,
like when the balls
supposed to fall into the cup and has the audacity to
stay up on the putting surface. He starts getting into
position for the fist pump, but the ball grazes the
cup and slips by. There's the look of total disbelief,
followed by the trademarked scowl. The club goes over
the head, down for a slam, back over the head only to
be dropped behind his back so that his caddy can come
over and retrieve it. Steve Williams may make a million
dollars a year and he earns every penny of it.
The theatrics were in high gear at last weeks' NEC
World Golf Championship at Firestone. Throughout the
regular round, Tiger's trademark scowl was in its usual
place but once the playoff started it moved into turbo
drive.
By the time Tiger came to the third hole of the playoff
he was in rare form. He was definitely upset that he
hadn't won on the previous hole when Furyk failed to
get out of the trap in one and Tiger had a short putt
for the win. Instead of giving up though, Furyk chipped
it in from the trap to force another hole.
Tiger's tee shot on eighteen hooked sharply to the
left, landing in a wooded area with an impossible second
shot. We were all sitting here cheering, figuring that
it was over. But oh no. How could we have been so stupid?
We forgot who we were dealing with.
So in true Tigeresque form, Woods decided that a wire
holding up a scoreboard many yards ahead obstructed
his view of the flag, so he called in the rules official
and after a lengthy discussion he was given relief from
the bad wire that blocked his view.
Here again we went from a scowl behind the tree to
that sickening grin when he pitched it back to the fairway,
got up and down tying the hole and on they went.
Finally, after seven holes Tiger emerged the victor.
The last seven-hole playoff occurred in 1991 when Bruce
Fleisher beat Ian Baker-Finch at the New England Classic.
Only five in PGA TOUR history have gone longer.
Tiger deserves credit for the win. There is no question
that he is a remarkable golfer. But do you think he
could tip his hat or wave to the crowd once in a while?
Might it be possible for Tiger to try and look like
a gentlemen on the course instead of a spoiled little
brat; swearing, throwing clubs or treating his caddie
like an indentured servant?
Maybe if he just wasn't so condescending, childish
and arrogant I could cheer for him once in a while instead
of always rooting against him.
Article courtesy of Dan Moschetti of
cypressgolf.
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