Tiger email: wants to play with Freddie or Furyk
It’s time again for another email from Tiger. Here are some highlights:
1. PGA. Do you think Tiger was immune to the criticism from the media about his decision not to stick around for the Monday finish of the PGA when he posted a -2 (and was possibly still in it)? Well, Tiger spends 3 long paragraphs at the start of his email to defend his decision:
“I’m not really surprised people have second-guessed me for leaving the PGA Championship on Sunday night. It’s me. Everything I do is always critiqued. More so than most players. I lost by two strokes. And I didn’t finish second, either. People have second-guessed me for a lot of different things. They were beating me all over the head last year about my swing changes. Why would you ever want to do something like that?
“I have absolutely zero second thoughts about flying home on Sunday night. Not with the quality of players that were up there on top of that board. It would have been different if you had guys who had never won a major before. But everyone up there on that board had won a major except for Thomas Bjorn, and he almost won the British Open. I thought the winning score might even be 5-under.
“Looking at the weather forecast, and how the course was supposed to play in the morning, they said the wind would be no factor. If anything, it might be with the players. That was it. Those guys can make pars coming in. When you looked at the board, they’re not coming back. Not all of them. Maybe one or two of them if something fluky happens.”
My shot: Tiger, relax man. Forget about the media. You took a gamble and, you know, man, you were RIGHT! The next time around just say: “Scoreboard” like they do at high school football games. On second thought, maybe that’s not the best comeback, since you lost. OK, here’s something better: “No harm, no foul,” or “kiss my…”
2. Driver control: Tiger thinks his driver is coming into form (2d in driving distance) and he doesn’t care much about the stat for driving accuracy (182d in driving accuracy). “I’ve got a better chance being in the first cut of rough with a wedge than somebody in the fairway with a 7-iron.”
3. Sean O’Hair: PGA rookie Sean O’Hair called Tiger up to play a practice round. They finally did at the Deutsche Bank. If you’ve followed Tiger before, the guy usually has the first time of the morning and likes to finish his practice rounds before most people are even starting. Tiger said his motto: “Play fast and have fun.” Of Sean O’Hair, Tiger said: “He’s a nice kid. He said why do you play so fast, and I said, do you have a yardage book? Do you see the fairway there and do you see the green with the flag on it? Has that ever changed since you’ve been playing golf? We had a good time.” Apparently so, but did O’Hair steal your mojo, Tiger, or what happened at the Deutsche Bank?
4. President’s Cup: Tiger said he’d liked to be paired with Phil Mickelson at the President’s Cup….just kidding. No, Tiger says he likes playing with Fred Couples (from past events), or Jim Furyk. Of Furyk, Tiger said: “I really would like to play with Jim Furyk. I’ve never played with Jim. He and I have been on every team together since 1997 and have never played together.” Somebody tell Jack.
5. PGA negotiations: As allCarry wrote about here, the PGA will be in much anticipated upcoming negotiations with TV networks. The problem: all of the networks lost money on golf, after having agreed to a huge deal for the PGA in 2001. Many in the media don’t see that happening again; ergo, the problem. How big a deal is this for the PGA? Well, the Commish Tim Finchem consulted with Tiger about the negotiations. Said Tiger: “At the NEC, I met with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and talked about everything about the TOUR. We’re still waiting on NASCAR for our negotiations and the future of our sport, TV-wise. I also think you’ll see a shorter official season in 2007.” OK, great, maybe they can have a joint NASCAR/PGA event, with Phil driving Ford and Tiger driving Buick.
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