April 7th, 2010 - Beat the Press
They had five months to figure out what to ask the guy, and when they had him just where they wanted him, they whiffed.
Up there on that podium, coolly drinking his non-Gatorade bevy, there he was, surveying the 207 assembled ink-stained wretches and probably thinking to himself, ?why did I bother with all that micro-managing of these clowns??
It?s clear Tiger Woods doesn?t have a better support group anywhere than the golf?s forth estate.
There is a general outrage about the mostly softball questions he faced on Monday afternoon. There was nothing about the recently revealed ever-so-kinky text messages, or if Elin cut him for the five stitches, not his Escalade?s steering wheel, or if he felt anything at all for his 15 and counting mistresses, or if Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were enablers in his secret life, or?
Nope ? none of that. At his first open presser in five months, out of the three-dozen or so questions he faced, few were intended to draw blood.
It was almost like the press wanted to have Tiger Woods, golf hero, world class athlete and all around awesome subject matter, back to write about.
Actually, that is exactly what they wanted ? and that?s exactly what they got. The majority of the writing posted since has been about how Tiger had ?changed.? About how he ?seemed more human.? About how 45 days of therapy had almost magically fixed five years of decidedly off the wall behavior. About how this was the ?apology we have been waiting for.?
For Tiger ? mission accomplished. He?s got the media back on his side.
Who?s next?
The regular folks ? and by extension, the business world.
And the way to do that is by winning. And he?s planning to do that this weekend.
Possible?
More like probable, compared to anyone else who is going to tee it up anyway.
Despite not playing competitively since last September, he?s the prohibitive favorite because for him The Masters is, by far, the easiest tournament he will play all year.
Perhaps the greatest tactician to ever play the game, he knows when to go for shots and when not to at Augusta better than anyone else. He knows all about the sucker pins that trip up the rest of the field every single year. On 12 he?ll never shoot at the pin when it?s back right. On 13 and 15 he?ll never be short with his approaches. On 16 it?s guaranteed that on Sunday that he?ll hit it long and right and let gravity do the rest on that slicker-than-sleet, slanty green.
But more important than all of that is the fact that there are very few in the field that have a realistic shot at beating him.
The Masters is by invite only and fewer than 100 players get to participate - most of who have no shot at winning. First there are the guys who have zero chance; the amateurs, the legacy champions and the newbie international players. Then there are psycho long-shots, the first time regular tour players who are just in awe of being there but rarely if ever make the first page of the leader board on Sunday. Then there are the solid tour players who get to go every year but never really compete because the course isn?t suited to their games or they can?t putt on linoleum, or they simply can?t handle major tournament pressure.
Jack Nicklaus insisted that for him, the majors were the easiest tournaments for him to win because unlike most of his competition, he?s been there, done that. He?s got six green jackets. His fellow honorary starter on Thursday, Arnold Palmer has four. In the 61-year history of The Masters, ten players who have won more than half of the tournaments played.
This weekend will be Woods? fourteenth appearance as a pro. He?s never missed a cut. His cumulative score is -74. He?s won four times, more than any active player, he?s finished second twice, third once and no worse than eighth on three other occasions. That means in eleven of his thirteen professional appearances he?s been either on top or in an excellent position to win.
This time, after a lengthy layoff and having his personal life publically eviscerated he?s back and, according to him, ready to play.
?Nothing's changed. I'm going to go out there and try to win this thing,? Woods said on Monday.
Well, a lot has changed actually, but not the fact that he?s the greatest player in the history of the game.
And we have always forgiven the great ones almost anything.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
They had five months to figure out what to ask the guy, and when they had him just where they wanted him, they whiffed.
Up there on that podium, coolly drinking his non-Gatorade bevy, there he was, surveying the 207 assembled ink-stained wretches and probably thinking to himself, ?why did I bother with all that micro-managing of these clowns??
It?s clear Tiger Woods doesn?t have a better support group anywhere than the golf?s forth estate.
There is a general outrage about the mostly softball questions he faced on Monday afternoon. There was nothing about the recently revealed ever-so-kinky text messages, or if Elin cut him for the five stitches, not his Escalade?s steering wheel, or if he felt anything at all for his 15 and counting mistresses, or if Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were enablers in his secret life, or?
Nope ? none of that. At his first open presser in five months, out of the three-dozen or so questions he faced, few were intended to draw blood.
It was almost like the press wanted to have Tiger Woods, golf hero, world class athlete and all around awesome subject matter, back to write about.
Actually, that is exactly what they wanted ? and that?s exactly what they got. The majority of the writing posted since has been about how Tiger had ?changed.? About how he ?seemed more human.? About how 45 days of therapy had almost magically fixed five years of decidedly off the wall behavior. About how this was the ?apology we have been waiting for.?
For Tiger ? mission accomplished. He?s got the media back on his side.
Who?s next?
The regular folks ? and by extension, the business world.
And the way to do that is by winning. And he?s planning to do that this weekend.
Possible?
More like probable, compared to anyone else who is going to tee it up anyway.
Despite not playing competitively since last September, he?s the prohibitive favorite because for him The Masters is, by far, the easiest tournament he will play all year.
Perhaps the greatest tactician to ever play the game, he knows when to go for shots and when not to at Augusta better than anyone else. He knows all about the sucker pins that trip up the rest of the field every single year. On 12 he?ll never shoot at the pin when it?s back right. On 13 and 15 he?ll never be short with his approaches. On 16 it?s guaranteed that on Sunday that he?ll hit it long and right and let gravity do the rest on that slicker-than-sleet, slanty green.
But more important than all of that is the fact that there are very few in the field that have a realistic shot at beating him.
The Masters is by invite only and fewer than 100 players get to participate - most of who have no shot at winning. First there are the guys who have zero chance; the amateurs, the legacy champions and the newbie international players. Then there are psycho long-shots, the first time regular tour players who are just in awe of being there but rarely if ever make the first page of the leader board on Sunday. Then there are the solid tour players who get to go every year but never really compete because the course isn?t suited to their games or they can?t putt on linoleum, or they simply can?t handle major tournament pressure.
Jack Nicklaus insisted that for him, the majors were the easiest tournaments for him to win because unlike most of his competition, he?s been there, done that. He?s got six green jackets. His fellow honorary starter on Thursday, Arnold Palmer has four. In the 61-year history of The Masters, ten players who have won more than half of the tournaments played.
This weekend will be Woods? fourteenth appearance as a pro. He?s never missed a cut. His cumulative score is -74. He?s won four times, more than any active player, he?s finished second twice, third once and no worse than eighth on three other occasions. That means in eleven of his thirteen professional appearances he?s been either on top or in an excellent position to win.
This time, after a lengthy layoff and having his personal life publically eviscerated he?s back and, according to him, ready to play.
?Nothing's changed. I'm going to go out there and try to win this thing,? Woods said on Monday.
Well, a lot has changed actually, but not the fact that he?s the greatest player in the history of the game.
And we have always forgiven the great ones almost anything.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
