"Why is nobody talking about Tiger Woods throwing his driver into the crowd at the Aussie Masters?"

Mike Walker wants to know and thinks he has the answer.

Comments

[Nathan]

Tiger was wrong and I hope, like most others, that he apologizes and looks to clean up his act but he didn't "throw his driver into the crowd" as the headline suggests. The article is silly.

[bsoudi]

Hilarious!

I like how after he chucked the club he focused on the ball landing, THEN went to see if he hurt someone.

[Eli]

The Australian government estimated a $20 million net gain because of Tiger's presence. I'm sure they, nor the European/Australasian Tour, would have minded if the errant club would have caused some cuts or bruises and led to paltry medical expenses.

[court]

Hmmm - maybe becaise the REST of the world already spoke up about it LAST WEEK ??

[Hawkeye]

I'm waiting for him to do a Ken Green, that is: Smash the tee mike into smithereens, then explain that an American mike would've taken it better than the Japanese crap CBS had bought. Hope he's doing well, by the way.

[Greg]

All golfers (except for Fred Couples) get frustrated after hitting a bad shot. And occasionally we let that frustration get the best of us. It''s just so tiresome seeing Tiger act out after every single less than perfect shot he hits. Someone needs to remind him that he's a billionaire (or at least close to) and a bad shot doesn't mean he won't be able to feed his kids.

[Longy]

If you don't throw a club during a round it shows you don't care.

[court]

LMAO Hawkeye....except that the American mics are made in China.

[frank]

There are several stories on Tiger Woods club throwing. Sal Johnson at Golfobserver wrote in his recap:
http://www.golfobserver.com/blog/blognews/recaps/2009/11/15/tigeraussiewin

We have shaken our heads in the past over these antics and have to concluded that Woods is above the law and can do whatever he wants on this. No matter what is written or how many dollars he is fined, it's not going to get better unless Woods controls his temper. Geez if he can control his emotions to win all of these titles, why can't he control his temper on this?

The only answer is to not allow Woods to play and that only punishes the sponsors and fans. We can understand a casual slip of the tongue but now Woods is throwing clubs that are bouncing into the gallery. I guess that it's going to take one of Woods projectiles to hit someone, possibly a child and cause serious injury before Woods realizes how bad this is. In reading a O'B. Keller book on Bobby Jones I guess that Jones had the same problem and it wasn't until Jones rifled a club into the gallery and caused a lady to get wrapped on the leg bringing blood before Jones was able to calm down his temper. In this day and age if Woods hits the wrong person at the wrong time it could make lawyers very wealthy.

Good piece on Tiger's trip to Australia

Jay Flemma took him to task
http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=2257

Phil Capelle has also written and ripped Tiger
http://capelleongolf.com/2009/11/14/tiger-woods-hits-a-new-low/

So there have been some written on this subject, most of it not very flattering for Woods

[cardinal]

"All golfers (except for Fred Couples) get frustrated after hitting a bad shot."

I've seen Couples struggle to maintain his insouciance. He was so piqued about a greenside bunker shot (at the 4th hole) in the third round of the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach that he hurled the rake over the cliff.

[Tim]

Let's get this clear. He *didn't* throw his club into the crowd. He banged it to the ground in front of him with so much force that it sprung up and landed in the crowd. Must be a special shaft, but we're not talking about a helicopter into the crowd here.

[Erik]

I can tell you if I had been in the crowd and "received" Tiger's driver gift, I would have advised him to go fornicate himself when he asked for it back. What a juvenile play. I used to be hot tempered, then I grew up. I think I was around 19 at the time....

Cheers!

[dsl]

Stevie would like to announce that he noticed Tiger's grips were worn before the round. In retrospect, he could have put some stick 'um on there.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

No, Tim. Tiger didn't bang the club into the ground, which he has been known to do. That implies he held on to the club. He discarded the club, i.e., threw it down, with enough force for it to bounce into the gallery. Any normal human being would have apologized on the spot. But as we have seen, seemingly more frequently in the past few years, Eldrick Woods is not a normal human being. When playing the Game, and otherwise. He simply needs to grow up, the sooner the better given that he is a father of two and will be 34 years old next month.

[Seitz]

Ky - If you believe the comments, this is from the linked piece:

"Just to add facts again, I was two meters away and he just flung the club softly onto the ground. It caught a bouncy pacth (sic) of the tee box and went over the fence softly. It wouldn't have even hurt a FLY. He walked over and said sorry buddy. All the guys around were cheering and telling the bloke who got the driver to run off with it and watch the woods entourage chasing after him."

As I said in the other thread, I'm not trying to excuse Tiger's actions, but his critics would do themselves a favor if they described the incident honestly.

[court]

Described the incident honestly ? Watch the video. That club had to be handed OVER the crowd. That "gentle bounce" took the club off the teeing ground, over at least 15' of open area, then over a crowd that was 4 or 5 deep.

No, he didn't pull a Judge Smails and fling the club - but a driver does have a metal head, and travelling that far, it could injure someone. "Sorry buddy" was enough this time - but someone could have gotten hurt.

Will the PGA Tour have to add flying clubs to the disclaimer on the back of the tickets about injuries caused by flying objects in play ? It does happen in baseball games occassionally when a bat flies into the stands. People do get hurt.

[Vwgolfer]

If a driver lands in the crowd, Is it finders keepers? Too bad some drunk Aussie did not run off with it. Now that would have been must see TV.

[C.B.]

What a Classless Punk, His Poor kids and Wife they have to live with him. I would love to run with the club and have his Bucktooth caddy chase me and I turn around and take him out at the Knees. These punks have to go there wrecking the game of golf, its Tradition,Honor and Dignity. Someone needs to be a man and stand up for the game of golf and get rid of this Punk.

[observer]

Soft or hard launch ... this lack of control belongs more on The Big Break than in the big leagues.