Wednesday, December
11, 2002
Picture this: A
caddie takes matters into his own hands
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.
(AP) - With $200,000 on the line, Tiger Woods dug his feet in
the bunker, waggled his sand wedge over the ball and was at the
top of his swing when the silence was pierced by a nerve-racking
noise he has come to despise.
Click!
Even more outrageous
was the sound that followed.
Splash!
Not long after someone
took a premature picture of Woods at the Skins Game, caddie Steve
Williams took the law _ or the lens, in this case _ into his own
hands and deposited the camera in the pond surrounding the 18th
green at Landmark Golf Club.
The question is:
Who crossed the line?
Does a caddie have
the right to destroy someone's property?
"Just because
he's Tiger Woods' caddie doesn't give him the right to do that,"
Vijay Singh said. "It may have been spur of the moment, but
I cannot say it was good what he did. If my caddie did that, I'd
make him fish it out of the lake."
Did the fan get what
he deserved?
No one knew who the
guy was, only that he was not authorized to have a camera or be
stationed inside the ropes. Policies make it abundantly clear
that cameras are not allowed once the tournament starts, although
that has never stopped anyone before.
"Did Stevie
throw the camera away? I've been wanting to do that for a long
time," Davis Love III said. "I've taken them away from
people, but I haven't smashed one or thrown one yet. I think it's
fair."
It was not clear
whether Williams would be fined or ordered to reimburse the man,
if he ever comes forward. Photojournalists who saw the camera
said it was worth about $7,000.
Any fine _ and Woods
said he expects one _ is assessed to the player, who then passes
it along to the caddie. But not this time.
Woods said he would
pick up the tab.
This is not the first
time Woods has defended his Kiwi caddie.
During the "Showdown
at Sherwood" three years ago, a PGA Tour official told Williams
he could not wear shorts, even though the temperature was pushing
90 degrees. When Williams refused to change, the official told
the caddie he would no longer work on the PGA Tour.
"Guess I'll
be playing in Europe next year," Woods said, and that was
the end of that.
In the case of the
camera, Woods had reason to stand by his man.
He had to back off
twice because of cameras on the opening hole at the British Open,
where Woods was going for the third leg of the Grand Slam. An
early click on the final hole in Ireland cost him a chance at
his first bogey-free tournament. There were so many cameras in
Germany that Woods felt as if he was model on a runway.
And those are just
a few examples from this year.
"He backs off
a lot more than you realize," Mark O'Meara said.
The national photojournalists
are guilty by association. The early clicks almost always come
from those who don't cover golf, such as the Japanese photographer
who got Woods on the first fairway at Muirfield and was puzzled
when he was asked to leave.
The real problem
stems from fans who come to the course with cameras, from marshals
who spend more time watching golf than policing the crowds, and
from tour officials who fail to enforce their policies.
"We've had poor
camera control on the PGA Tour, and it's jeopardizing the integrity
of the championship," said Phil Mickelson.
That's not to say
the answer is tossing cameras into the water.
"I don't think
I would have handled it that way," Mickelson said. "But
I can understand the frustration he must have felt. I don't have
a problem with it."
Woods is not the
only victim of early clicks, but no one hears more. He still remembers
the camera that clicked behind him as he teed off on the 18th
hole at the 1997 Masters, a drive that wound up 60 yards left
of the fairway.
"Thank God I
had a big enough cushion," said Woods, who was leading by
12 shots and made par to set the Masters scoring record.
Colin Montgomerie
is known for his rabbit ears, whether it's a camera or an unruly
fan, and even he defers to Woods when it comes to distractions
on the course.
"Who am I to
complain?" Monty said. "He puts up with 20 times more
than anyone else, and he does it so well. Every time I play with
him, he has to back off. Look at the Open this year. Cameras were
all over him."
There weren't that
many at the Skins game, but there was one too many.
Click!
"Not in my swing!"
Woods yelled, cursing and glaring as his ball ran 15 feet by the
hole.
That's when Williams
snapped.
"I walked over
to him and grabbed the camera," Williams said. "He put
up a little resistance, but not much."
Was Williams wrong?
"They put up
with a lot, an awful lot," Montgomerie said. "I suppose
it would be a shame if his late great aunt had been on the film,
as well."
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