Wednesday, November
20, 2002
Woods says his views
on Augusta National unchanged
By JIM ARMSTRONG
Associated Press Writer
MIYAZAKI, Japan (AP)
- Tiger Woods hasn't changed his mind about playing at the all-male
Augusta National Golf Club despite a New York Times editorial
calling on him to skip the Masters.
"As I've said
before, everyone is entitled to their own opinion," Woods
said Tuesday. He is in Japan for this week's Dunlop Phoenix tournament.
"I think there
should be women members," Woods said. "But it's not
up to me. I don't have voting rights, I'm just an honorary member."
The editorial, published
Monday, suggested that Woods not play at the Masters next year
because of Augusta's all-male membership.
"A tournament
without Mr. Woods would send a powerful message that discrimination
isn't good for the golfing business," the editorial said.
Augusta National
declined comment.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson,
who says his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition will organize protests at
the Masters if a woman is not a member by April, called the Times
editorial "unfair and inconsistent" for singling out
Woods.
"I don't remember
them saying to Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus to boycott the Masters
because blacks are not playing," Jackson said Tuesday.
Lee Elder became
the first black to play the Masters, in 1975.
Still, Jackson said
he would encourage Woods to take a stronger stand.
"He's much too
intelligent and too much a beneficiary of our struggles to be
neutral," Jackson said. "His point of view does matter.
I think right now his challenge would be to the PGA Tour, to the
golfers, to the (Augusta National) board of directors, to all
speak together."
In interviews this
month, Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was adamant that
a woman would not be among the 300 members at Augusta by the start
of the Masters in April.
Johnson's comments
were the first on the subject since he criticized Martha Burk
and the National Council of Women's Organizations for trying to
coerce change at the golf course.
The Times said that
if Augusta National "can brazenly discriminate against women,
that means others can choose not to support Mr. Johnson's golfing
fraternity. That includes more enlightened members of the club,
CBS Sports, which televises the Masters, and the players, especially
Tiger Woods."
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