TT JULY Issue 170(A)_Layout 1 20/06/2015 12:34 Page 4
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JULY 2015
News reports contrast the Jekyll-and-Hyde sides of the thoughtful Mr Nice Guy who can shock fans as a foul-mouthed, spitting oaf
The odd tales of two Tigers
GOLF’S return to the Olympics next year has been branded as only ‘an exhibition’ by Masters champion Adam Scott.
TWO recent news reports have drawn into focus the two sides of Tiger Woods, the most successful player in modern golf history. One shows him as a man under pressure, trying to salvage his career and losing his cool so often that he has topped the charts for swearing on the course. The other depicts him as a kind, thoughtful human being stretching out an empathetic hand to a teenager who has been bullied for having a stutter. It has been seven years since Woods won his 14th Major on what appeared to be a non-stop and inevitable charge towards Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18, before his life and career imploded with well-documented revelations about his private life. And the strain of having slipped from the pinnacle to a career low of number 140 in the world rankings is clearly showing in his lack of self-control on a golf course. Figures from the Federal Communications Commission show that American broadcasters have received 22 complaints since 2011 for imaginative language from golfers - and 15 of them originated with Woods. One angry viewer said: ‘I should not be subjected to this in my own home.’ Woods gets more airtime than any other golfer, but that does not excuse him as far as another complainant wrote: ‘When watching a sports programme we should be free from vile, insulting assaults.’
Golf last appeared in the Olympics programme in 1904, and is back on the programme for the Rio games. Another club goes flying as Tiger’s temper erupts. Inset, the nicer Mr Woods
The fictional Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde • THE Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a short novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886. • It is about a lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, who investigates the strange relationship between his old friend Dr Henry Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde. • The tale is widely associated with the rare mental condition of ‘split personality’, in which there is more than one character in the same body. • There two distinct personalities within Dr Jekyll - one good and the other evil.
In the UK, Woods has also attracted complaints, particularly about his ‘nauseating’ habit of constantly spitting on the golf course - even on the greens. Contrast this with the heartwarming letter which Woods wrote to a young fan being bullied because of his stutter. Woods told the boy, named only as Dillon, that he too stuttered as a child and added: ‘I know what it is like to be different.’ Woods said he was proud of the boy and urged him: ‘Keep fighting.’
Woods learned about the boy's condition through Swedish professional golfer Sophie Gustafson, who has a severe stutter. Gustafson is mentoring the boy and contacted American golf journalist Ron Sirak asking for help and passed him emails from Dillon's mother. Sirak said he would contact Woods, who responded by writing to Dillon.
‘I know what it's like to be different and to sometimes not fit in,’ wrote Woods. ‘I also stuttered as a child and I would talk to my dog and he would sit there and listen until he fell asleep.’
WOOSIE IS SNUBBED - AND IT HURTS IAN Woosnam has still not been inducted into golf’s Hall of Fame but says he is using his ‘frustration’ as motivation.
frustration, posting ironically on Twitter ‘I think it's time to say goodbye to golf and retire.’
The 1991 Masters winner won his first U.S. Champions Tour title recently, and admits that it hurts to be overlooked by the Floridabased organisation.
‘The Hall of Fame is a strange one. I'm getting a lot of coverage in America at the moment so hopefully it will open a few doors.
Ryder Cup-winning captain Woosnam, 57, admits it hurts being overlooked by the Florida-based organisation: ‘It's very frustrating, but I'm using it to get to where I am at the moment.’ Four people were inducted into the class of 2015 - Laura Davies, Mark O'Meara, David Graham and the course architect, AW Tillinghast.
Scott raps Rio’s golf ‘exhibition’
Ryder Cup winner Woosie: Overlooked by the Hall of Fame
The little Welshman has the one Major title but Colin Montgomerie, who has none but eight European Tour Orders of Merit, is already in the Hall of Fame. When the announcements were made, Woosnam made no attempt to hide his
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‘I've been out in America for the last five or six weeks and have been playing better every week. I've been practising hard and that's now paying off.’ Another attraction is that, as well as recognising Woosnam’s contribution to golf down the years, a place in the Hall of Fame would give automatic exemption to play on the Champions Tour.
The principle has been widely welcomed but professionals such as Scott foresee a hectic summer in which top players might have to juggle personal priorities. Australian Scott says: ‘Whether I win an Olympic medal or not is not going to define my career or change whether I’ve fulfilled my career. It’s nothing I’ve ever aspired to do and I don’t think I ever will.
Adam Scott: Olympics will not define my career
‘It’s all about the four Majors and that’s the way it should stay for golf. To go and play an exhibition event down there to meet some athletes (in other sports) in the middle of the Major season – I don’t think any other athletes in their sport would do that. ‘I don’t believe a lot of sports belong there. It’s got away from where it started. Most of the athletes at the Olympics probably have trained four years specifically to peak at this one event. ‘It’s the pinnacle of their sport, they get one crack at their big thing every four years. They have put their life on hold for this event and it’s so important to them, and I feel it’s their time. Golf doesn’t need to be in the Olympics.’
Clarke’s picks EUROPEAN captain Darren Clarke has decided not to change Europe's qualifying system for next year's Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. The Northern Irishman will have three wildcard picks to join the nine men who qualify automatically: the top four in the European points list and the top five in the world points list. It is the same system used by Paul McGinley when his side beat the United States 16½11½ at Gleneagles last year.
‘It would have been foolish to make any changes,’ said Clarke.
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