Sunday, June 18, 2000
Beware of the Tiger, his mouth
By Bud Geracie
Knight Ridder Newspapers
PEBBLE BEACH — Saturday, while he was
playing God at the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods also showed a human
side.
“(at)&&%!” he shouted
after a poor shot. “You $(at)!%%!!”
You needn't have been on the golf course
to have heard this ungodly rant. All you needed was to have had
the television tuned to NBC shortly before 8 a.m. That's when
Tiger let loose with a blue streak that was picked up by network
microphones and brought live into your home.
Ah, the magic of television.
“It was heat of the moment,” Tiger
said later, “and unfortunately I let it slip out. And I regret
doing it.”
You can't really send the kids to bed at
that hour of the day, so probably some televisions across America
got shut off. Probably the network and its local affiliates got
some angry calls. No doubt, a certain segment of Americans, not
confined to the golfing establishment, took a dimmer view of Woods
as a champion and as a man.
You have two choices, people: Lighten up,
or get used to it.
Tiger is going to be the U.S. Open champion,
sure as the sun is going to rise today. In fact, sunrise is the
only thing standing between this 24-year-old mortal and his third
major championship. Only Jack Nicklaus was quicker, winning his
third by age 23, and not even Jack did it like this.
Tiger is leading the U.S. Open by 10 strokes.
He is on a record-setting spree at a tournament, and on a course,
that gives nothing. The U.S. Golf Association likes its scores
high and everybody is cooperating except Tiger. Not only is he
the one man under par, he is 8 under par.
“I've never seen anyone play golf like
this,” said Roger Maltbie, who has been around long enough
as a player and a broadcaster to have seen everyone but God.
Tiger's first-round 65 was the lowest round
ever for an Open at Pebble. His second-round lead (six strokes)
was the largest after 36 holes. His 10-stroke lead is the largest
after 54. His winning margin today is likely to be the largest
ever, embarrassing the record (7) shared by Nicklaus and two others.
If only Tiger could tame his tongue the
way he has tamed this course and its elements. If only he could
make all problems go away as easily as he did on No. 6 Saturday.
That was the hole on which Tiger hit two
shots into the legendary Open rough and came away with a birdie
4. From the fairway hay to the hairy lip of a steep bunker, with
one foot in sand and the other on land, he hit an invisible ball
65 yards, soft as a buttercup, onto the green. It was such a sweet
shot that even Woods had to celebrate, slapping palms with his
caddie Steve Williams.
It should be noted, however, that it was
Williams who started it.
By the eighth tee, in just four holes, Woods
had overcome a triple bogey to restore the 8-under score with
which he'd opened the round. Think about that; the guy had a triple
bogey and he leads by 10 strokes.
The 7 he took at No. 3 was more evidence
of his mortality. Except that he came away from it smiling, rather
than swearing. “I was smiling because I hadn't hit that bad
a shot,” he explained.
And then there was this less-than godly
act at No. 8:
“Hey, guys,” Tiger shouted, stepping
away from his shot to address the army of photographers 100 yards
behind him. “Calm down back there, will you?”
So he's human. He's imperfect. He shouts
at people with cameras (especially at the AT&T). He shouts
bad words near television microphones.
I'm not saying it's right, just that it's
the way it is. It's the way it is when you're 24 and you use those
words like water. It's the way it is when television tries to
bring you closer to the action. It's the price you pay.
Tiger will pay it. There will be a fine,
most likely. There will be those who think less of him as a champion
and as a man.
Maybe you have used that kind of language
on the golf course, or at home, or at work. Maybe your neighbor
does. Not to shatter any more illusions, but all your heroes —
from Michael Jordan to Joe Montana — probably have used those
words.
The only difference is, they weren't picked
up by a network microphone.
People are always looking to bring this
kid down a notch or 10. Here we stand, witness to the formative
years of what likely will be the greatest golfing career ever,
and people pick at him. Why wasn't Tiger at the ceremony for Payne
Stewart last week?
Why weren't Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and
dozens of other guys?
Does Tiger care about anybody other than
himself? The story is, when Stewart's wife, Tracey, spoke to Tiger
at the funeral last year, telling him how much he'd meant to Payne,
Tiger went to pieces. Seems he cared.
So give the kid a break.
And if you happen to tune in to U.S. Open
Blue today, please observe the cautions regarding “adult
language.” Also beware of “nudity” and “graphic
violence” as Tiger undresses the field and continues his
assault on Pebble Beach.
(c) 2000, San Jose Mercury
News (San Jose, Calif.).
Visit Mercury Center, the World Wide Web site of the Mercury News,
at http://www.sjmercury.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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