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Is Tiger Woods a Bad Example for Golf Course Behavior?

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by dandorotik, Jul 22, 2009.

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  1. dandorotik

    dandorotik Contributing Member

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    The article from Rick Reilly prompted this thread. I have to be honest- I hardly ever watch golf, including Tiger Woods. I didn't know the extent to which he is a supposed "hothead"- anyone that watches him confirm this?

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=4347419

    Tiger Woods has outgrown those Urkel glasses he had as a kid. Outgrown the crazy hair. Outgrown a body that was mostly neck.

    When will he outgrow his temper?

    The man is 33 years old, married, the father of two. He is paid nearly $100 million a year to be the representative for some monstrously huge companies, from Nike to Accenture. He is the world's most famous and beloved athlete.

    And yet he spent most of his two days at Turnberry last week doing the Turn and Bury. He'd hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums -- slamming his club, throwing his club and cursing his club. In front of a worldwide audience.

    A whole lot of that worldwide audience is kids. They do what Tiger does. They swing like Tiger, read putts like Tiger and do the celebration biceps pump like Tiger. Do you think for two seconds they don't think it's cool to throw their clubs like Tiger, too?

    He's grown in every other way. He's committed, responsible, smart, funny and the most talented golfer in history. I just thought we'd be over the conniptions by now.

    If there were no six-second delay, Tiger Woods would be the reason to invent it. Every network has been burned by having the on-course microphone open when he blocks one right into the cabbage and starts with the F-bombs. Once, at Doral, he unleashed a string of swear words at a photographer that would've made Artie Lange blush, and then snarled, "'The next time a photographer shoots a [expletive] picture, I'm going to break his [expletive] neck!"

    He's grown in every other way. He's committed, responsible, smart, funny, and the most talented golfer in history. I just thought we'd be over the conniptions by now.

    It's disrespectful to the game, disrespectful to those he plays with and disrespectful to the great players who built the game before him. Ever remember Jack Nicklaus doing it? Arnold Palmer? When Tom Watson was getting guillotined in that playoff to Stewart Cink, did you see him so much as spit? Only one great player ever threw clubs as a pro -- Bobby Jones -- and he stopped in his 20s when he realized how spoiled he looked.

    This isn't new. Woods has been this way for years: swearing like a Hooters' bouncer, trying to bury the bottom of his driver into the tee box, flipping his club end over end the second he realizes his shot is way offline.

    I can still remember the 1997 Masters -- arguably the most important golf tournament ever played. Woods, then 21, was playing the 15th hole on Sunday. He had just hit a fairway wood out of the rough and was watching it. A young boy came up from behind just to touch him -- just to pat the back of this amazing new superhero. That's when Tiger pulled the club way back over his head and slammed it down, nearly braining the kid he couldn't see behind him. And this was with a huge lead.

    Look, in every other case, I think Tiger Woods has been an A-plus role model. Never shows up in the back of a squad car with a black eye. Never gets busted in a sleazy motel with three "freelance models." Never gets so much as a parking ticket. But this punk act on the golf course has got to stop. If it were my son, I'd tell him the same thing: "Either behave or get off the course."

    Come to think of it, if I were the president of Nike, I'd tell him the same thing.

    Put it this way: Will Tiger let his own two kids carry on in public like that?

    I know what you're saying. We see more Tiger tantrums because TV shows every single shot he hits. And I'm telling you: You're wrong. He is one of the few on Tour who do it. And I keep wondering when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is going to have the cojones to publicly upbraid him for it.

    Golf is a gentlemen's game. Stomping and swearing and carrying on like a Beverly Hills tennis brat might fly in the NBA or in baseball or in football, where less is expected, but golf demands manners. It's your honor. Is my mark in your way? No, I had 6, not 5. Golfers call penalties on themselves. We are our own police. Tiger, police yourself.

    Tiger does a boatload of work for kids. He raises millions for his Tiger Woods Learning Center, which has helped teach thousands. But teaching goes the wrong way, too. Tiger is teaching them that if he can be a hissy hothead on the course, they can, too.

    I remember Tiger's dad, Earl, telling a story. One day, when Tiger was just a kid, he was throwing his clubs around in a fuming fit when his dad said something like "Tiger, golf is supposed to be fun." And Tiger said, "Daddy, I want to win. That's how I have fun."

    Well, it's not fun to watch.
     
    #1 dandorotik, Jul 22, 2009
  2. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Contributing Member

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    Reilly must have been really bored.
     
    #2 Oski2005, Jul 22, 2009
  3. Lil Pun

    Lil Pun Contributing Member

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    You know how I know there's no football season?
     
    #3 Lil Pun, Jul 22, 2009
  4. Mike Hunt

    Mike Hunt Member

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    If being dissatisfied with your own performance is considered bad behvaior, then **** reilly
     
    #4 Mike Hunt, Jul 22, 2009
  5. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    if these guys didn't b**** about athletes being perfect, they wouldn't be sports columnists.

    I really don't like Rick Reilly after he tried to give Sammy Sosa a cup to pee in and then was upset that he didn't. And all his little buddies in the sports columnist world backed up this terrible example of media trying to become part of the story.
     
    #5 pgabriel, Jul 22, 2009
  6. The Real Shady

    The Real Shady Contributing Member

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    Yawn. He's just showing a little emotion on the golf course, nothing wrong with that.
     
    #6 The Real Shady, Jul 22, 2009
  7. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    Yeah Tiger gets mad at himself, the gallery, and especially photographers. Tiger expects perfection, and anything less bothers him. Golf needs that though. Tiger wears his emotions out on the course. Sure it may bring some slammed/tossed clubs, but it also brings the fist pump. Golf should be exciting on TV. It is supposed to be entertaining.
     
    #7 juicystream, Jul 22, 2009
  8. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Contributing Member

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    Wow. This was a serious article? Did I miss something?
     
    #8 Bandwagoner, Jul 22, 2009
  9. DOMINATOR

    DOMINATOR Member

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    golf sucks. enough said.
     
    #9 DOMINATOR, Jul 22, 2009
  10. weslinder

    weslinder Contributing Member

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    A golfer curse? Well, I never...
     
    #10 weslinder, Jul 22, 2009
  11. slcrocket

    slcrocket Contributing Member

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    I normally really enjoy Reilly, but this article sucked.
     
    #11 slcrocket, Jul 22, 2009
  12. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    To answer the question posed in the thread title - yes, Woods is a bad example for golf etiquette. Regardless of how you feel about Tiger Woods, his great ability, his great preparation, practice habits and training, his incredible mental acuity and his competitiveness, cursing and club slamming is bad golf course etiquette.
     
    #12 bobrek, Jul 22, 2009
    1 person likes this.
  13. droxford

    droxford Member

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    I completely agree.

    I won't disagree with Reilly. Everything stated in his article is true. But the article doesn't do a complete job of presenting Tiger Woods in golf.

    It's true that Tiger Woods yells and curses and throws his clubs. But isn't this what newcomers WANT in golf? A player who is justas passionate about his fantastic shots (pumping his arms and yelling) as he is about his terrible shots? It's this very passion and energy that people today want to see. Not the typical boring golfer. That's one of the primary reasons why youngsters flock so much to Tiger and not nearly as much to Phil, Ernie, or Vijay.

    Point number two: I've known many people to behave that way (and worse) on a simple weekend game, for no money. How much to you think it must feel to be playing a golf tournament for over a million dollars?

    Tiger also knows that he gets the big endorsement contracts by being the best player in the world. Without being the best, he doesn't get those contracts. So there's tremendous pressure on Tiger to win and keep winning. He gets that pressure also from the media and the fans. The whole world puts pressure on him to win, except for his opponents on the field. THEY (the best golf players in the world besides Tiger) are doing their best to defeat Tiger and pressure him to lose. How much pressure do you think Tiger is under?

    Most of all, Tiger puts pressure on himself. He's a competitor. He certainly doesn't NEED to play. The guy is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He plays because he has the blood of a fierce competitor running through his veins. That alone is enough to make a sportsman demonstrate his own self-disappointment.

    And, really, these are days when other sportsmen are being busted for doing HGH, for doing drugs, for gambling, for being involved with shootings, getting in trouble at nudie bars, DUI, and a host of other terrible things. I'm not gonna say Tiger is right for his behavior, but, sheesh... give the guy a break.
     
     
    #13 droxford, Jul 22, 2009
  14. Angle02

    Angle02 Member

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    Watching golf on tv puts me to sleep..... So did the article.
     
    #14 Angle02, Jul 22, 2009
  15. Dubious

    Dubious Contributing Member

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    Tommy Bolt, toward the end of one of his infamous high- volume, tempermental, club-throwing rounds, asked his caddie for a club recommendation for a shot of about 155 yards. His caddie said: "I'd say either a 3-iron or a wedge, sir." "A 3- iron or a wedge?" asked Bolt. "What kind of stupid, #*!~%^* choice is that?"

    "Those are the only two clubs you have left in the your bag, sir."
     
    #15 Dubious, Jul 22, 2009
  16. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

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    sounds like a girly sport
     
    #16 peleincubus, Jul 22, 2009
  17. bnb

    bnb Contributing Member

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    Cursing and club slamming are the only two aspects of Tiger's game that resemble my own.

    And he's better at those too.
     
    #17 bnb, Jul 22, 2009
  18. The Drake

    The Drake Member

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    will someone please put Reilly out to pasture?

    he hasn't written anything good in about 10 years.
     
    #18 The Drake, Jul 22, 2009
  19. Blake

    Blake Contributing Member

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    Doesn't bother me...the guy is competitive and shows emotion. Is it proper etiquette? Definitely not. Is it newsworthy or even an issue? Definitely not
     
    #19 Blake, Jul 22, 2009
  20. Manny Ramirez

    Manny Ramirez The Music Man

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    Agreed. I think a lot of people are so star-struck with Tiger and also not fully aware of the history of golf and its etiquette. There is nothing wrong with being upset about making a bad shot but it is just bad etiquette to throw clubs and curse about it. My father has played for 45 years and is pretty much a scratch golfer and I can tell you that he would agree exactly with what I, bobrek, and Rick Reilly are saying. Is the article a little melodramatic? Sure but that's what sportswriters do - look at all the articles that Gene Wojciechowski writes about Brett Favre - they don't get more melodramatic than those.
     
    #20 Manny Ramirez, Jul 22, 2009
    1 person likes this.
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