Up & Down: Real golf among the off-course hazards
As he does after every weekend, CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling takes the lay of the land -- that's not a Tiger Woods joke -- on the world of golf.
Up
Not to belabor the point
We'll be succinct since this is ground that was covered in depth on Friday night when Tiger Woods stunned the sports world by parking his golf bag for the indefinite future. Sure, there's going to be more bad news as endorsement deals fall apart, more painted ladies crawl out of the woodwork for a payday, or whatever, but taking a breather was exactly the right decision for Woods, as was finally issuing some semblance of a real apology. The game itself doesn't deserve to be tainted by Woods' actions, and this will dually give the tour a chance to proceed without the sideshow element Woods was sure to attract over the short term and the world No. 1 an opportunity to get his own house in order. In a lose-lose proposition for all associated with the tour -- players, fans, media, sponsors or whatever -- it was a close to a win-win solution as we can envision.
Allenby doubles his pleasure
What, an actual performance-related item? How did this get in here? Well, Aussie star Robert Allenby surely deserves kudos for winning for the second consecutive week after snapping a four-year victory drought a fortnight ago at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa. He entered the Aussie PGA at the last minute and had a pair of 66s on the weekend to win Sunday, jumping past Anthony Kim in the world rankings. If you don't understand the Kim reference, you clearly have not been paying attention lately. He jumped five spots to No. 21 and is the second-ranked Aussie behind Geoff Ogilvy (No. 14).
Feedback on the fadeaway
A handful of PGA Tour players offered their opinions on Woods' surprising decision to back away from the game as he attempts to piece what's left of his personal life back together, but none hit home any harder than the statements from two Swedes. First, Jesper Parnevik conveyed the sense of anger he felt for the way Woods treated his wife, Elin, a former nanny for Parnevik, who introduced the pair. Then, after two weeks of silence, Annika Sorenstam finally offered up her two cents' worth. "Like most people, I have been following the stories about Tiger that have unfolded the last couple weeks," she said. "I have chosen not to address the issue publicly because he and Elin are both friends of mine. However, with the most recent developments and an increased number of requests from the media for a comment, this is all I have to say. I am disappointed in Tiger's actions and I feel very sorry for Elin and the children." For Sorenstam, who has rarely offered a cross word during her classy career, it was akin to screaming from a mountaintop.
Meanwhile, back at tour HQ
Granted, some of the pacts were in the works for weeks and months, but during one of the darkest, dankest periods in PGA Tour history, the organization managed to extend a sponsorship deal with one title sponsor and sign a new sponsor to take over another event. John Deere was one of a handful of events whose deal was set to expire in 2010 and re-upped, while Waste Management agreed to take over for outgoing FBR as the title sponsor of the popular Phoenix Open. It would be easy to crack a joke about how it would take a garbage truck and a bulldozer to bury the toxic earth left behind by the Woods affair, but that would be too easy. Given the general climate of dreariness, whoever is responsible for these deals being finalized deserves a big bonus from Santa Finchem.
Down
Signs of apocalypse
About the worst thing anybody said about Woods before his Thanksgiving car crash is that his language was often rated R. Two weeks later, his personal life is headed toward X. According to reports, two different adult films are in the works in Los Angeles, with Woods' over-indulged sex life serving as the apparent hook for both stories -- well, assuming you believe porn has a actual storyline. One project involves a fetching porn star who says she had an intimate encounter with Woods at his bachelor party. Come to think of it, this might provide the lone silver lining out of the whole sordid affair. Maybe I can buy the movies and file it in on my company expense report as "research." The second, and less-attractive porn star with whom Woods has been linked is covered with so many bizarre tattoos, it's hard to read them all.
When the gossip is too good
Ben Crane and Charles Warren last week were widely quoted on the web after the tabloid mag Life & Style printed critical statements the publication claimed it gathered at Q-school days earlier. Both players vigorously disputed speaking with reporters about the Woods scenario, period, which in a small way cast other tabloid reports into doubt. Without getting on my high horse here, when publications pay sources for information, there's an incentive to exaggerate because the information is worth more that way. Printing or posting stories without bylines means no reporter is held accountable for the accuracy of the information. Using anonymous sources, or printing information without attribution, is generally frowned upon in traditional news outlets. It just makes me wonder how much of the rest have been properly vetted. OK, the sermon endeth now.
Eldrick the endorser
What took 'em so long, you ask? Sunday, Accenture ended its six-year deal with Tiger Woods, finally coming to the realization that whatever image he was projecting at the moment wasn't exactly good for business. A day earlier, Gillette said it would not use Woods in ads in the foreseeable future. As for the rest of his portfolio, AT&T would seem the most likely to jump ship, since they have a logo on his bag and are the title sponsor of his tournament in Washington, D.C. Unless the company plans to launch an ad campaign about sexting or leaving crystal clear voice messages on the phone of your alleged mistresses, it's hard to envision an upside. AT&T has said it is evaluating its deal with Woods. Just a hunch, but I bet they eventually decide that Woods reached out and touched someone a few times too many.
The message in microcosm
When Woods said in a statement attributed to him on his website Friday night that he was stepping away from the game for a spell, reaction was a bit mixed in this particular corner of the golf world. He asked for understanding and forgiveness from fans, his fellow players, the PGA Tour, the employees at his charitable foundation (good luck raising money) and his business partners. The latter can be interpreted a couple of ways, but it struck me as being amazingly mercenary at a time when money should be the least of his concerns. As for the notion of forgiveness in general, when was the last time Woods took pity on somebody for a slight, be it real or perceived? Second chances and Woods have not often intersected.
Williams joins the fight
Aggressive by nature, Steve Williams races cars for fun and played rugby when he was younger. He also kicks butt as the caddie for Woods. While the two are close friends, Williams has repeatedly claimed he had no knowledge of what his boss was up to after hours and he called out ESPN's Rick Reilly for stating otherwise. "Last year, at the same particular point of time, is when I had the confrontation with Phil Mickleson," Williams told a Kiwi publication over the weekend. "I didn't lie about it – I called the guy a [jerk]. I never denied one word of what I said. I had no knowledge of what Tiger's indiscretion was. And for Rick Reilly to turn around and say that I am a liar and there is no way I couldn't know -- and that I should be fired -- that is sensational journalism at its height right there." Williams has a point, but Reilly's treatise is spot-on in at least one regard: If Woods is to remake his image and again be embraced, certain elements need to change. Based on his hard-ass persona, 10 years together or not, the combative and adversarial Williams might be a detrimental influence at this point.
