Someone Saved Stevie's Career Today
That's Robert Lusetich's take on Tiger's press conference in Sydney. He also explains how the encounter between the former soul mates happened.
Woods walked into the gym at his harborside hotel and there was Williams.
“We talked this morning, we met face to face and talked about it, talked it through,” Woods said. “He did apologize. It was hurtful, certainly, but life goes forward.”
The two finished the conversation by shaking hands, Woods said.
Williams later told me he didn’t want to say any more, though it’s clear he feels he’s been treated unfairly. He appeared on a radio station in his native New Zealand protesting that his comment, made at a supposedly off-the-record caddies dinner held on Friday night in Shanghai, had been “blown out of all proportion.”
Bob Harig also noted how Tiger has learned from recent controversies, refusing to let this one get out of hand.
In Woods' case, he could have let the situation fester, could have made things mighty uncomfortable for the caddie who was on his bag for 13 major championships. How their relationship got to this point is something that Woods could not even answer on Tuesday at The Lakes Golf Club, where the Australian Open begins on Thursday.
"That's a great question. I don't know that one,'' Woods said of the relationship gone sour. "For me, personally, it was a tough decision to make to go in a different direction in my personal life. But as far as personally, I don't know how that could have happened the way it did, but it did and here we are. So as I said, life goes forward, I just keep moving forward.''
Geoff
**Steve Elling says Stevie's Valvoline deal is in place...for now.
“This is Steve Williams, his conduct,” Ashland spokesman Jim Vitak said. “We’re not speaking for Steve Williams … He has a contract with us, a legal contract.”
Well, for now, anyway.
“We do periodically review contracts at appropriate points in time,” Vitak added.
Geoff
**John Huggan was in the room for Tiger's presser and filed his impressions.
Still, Woods, not known for his ability to forgive and forget -- see Fuzzy Zoeller, Butch Harmon, Fluff Cowan, Hank Haney -- was in unusually conciliatory mood, similar to that of PGA Tour and European Tour bosses Finchem and O'Grady, who earlier combined to deem Williams' words not worthy of punishment. Naughty Stevie. Wash your mouth out. Now run along and play with the other Neanderthals.
Reader Comments (25)
Oh, Tiger. You are just the saint. (lots of sarcasm)
I prefer to think that some media made this issue “blown out of all proportion.” Polemic sells.
I wish though that Steve realized that the statement was wrong/stupid, rather than feeling like the victim. And it bothers me that the fact to face meeting didn't come about because Steve (or Adam or someone) realized that he owed Tiger a personal apology and set it up, but instead happened because Tiger went into the gym.
Altar-bound, hypnotized
Sweet freedom whispered in my ear"
I wonder if Shane Warne rubs off on him a little bit. Last year he was great with Warne laughing about their indiscretions.
And this year, he spent some time with Warne in Melbourne before arriving in Sydney.
The two should trade phone numbers and Woods should listen less to his agent.
That caddie banquet could cost us some great anecdotes. It could rewrite some history. Pity; in many ways there is no better source than SW for that critical decade or so.
Much thanks to the great Neil Crafter for the help with the Mick and Alex photos. Neil, you are a star in the Aussie flag! Clayts too!
Steve's deal with Valvoline was not going to be renewed even is this brouhaha hadn't happened. Once he left Tiger the exposure fell off a cliff. Well, maybe not! But the exposure Valvoline bargained for fell off a cliff. I'm surprised they didn't have a clause in the contract allowing them to cancel the deal if Steve stopped caddying for Tiger. But clearly they don't.
Steve's comments came out, and they brought the sport into disrepute in any sports league in the US that's a punishable behavior.
BTW outside of Steve and Adam nobody in the room has come out and said there were worse things said in that room, the anonymous sources from the room certainly did not feel that way, neither did the MC. There may have been worse profanity (I'm sure), but Racist comments trump profanity 9&8.
As to the Kelly vs Steve issue. I find Steve's comments worse for 2 reasons 1) Steve specifically introduced race into the comment 2) Steve's comments came out of extreme bitterness, Kelly's were clearly an extremely clumsy joke. And btw Kelly was suspended.
Generally speaking I think the past should inform the present and the future, but it should not be an excuse for it, failure to act appropriately in one instance is not a reason to fail to act in the next. Instead you should learn from it, and do better next time.
The repute of the sport in no way hinges on anything said by Steve Williams -- period. That's like saying the the US is toast because Jesse Ventura had some nasty things to say.....just ridiculous.
As for "the room", given the present firestorm do you think any sane person is going to go on the record and discuss other things that were said? They'd have to be crazy!
You're probably right about Kelly vs.Steve in terms of intent. But in what is seemingly a zero tolerance situation, does it matter? Shouldn't Kelly "go away" too?
I concur on the learning. If Steve didn't learn something here then ultimately he will go away.
Can Steve bring the sport down? Duh, no. Did his comments make golf look bad? Yeah they did (and don't say but lots of comments make the sport look bad, their is a diff between comments, and racist, misogynistic etc comments)
And I think you mete out discipline on a scale and case by case basis, and again Kelly was banned for 2 weeks, Steve hasn't even been fined. How does that work?
When you screw up aren't there consequences? and don't those consequences depend on the severity of the offense? To me the severity of Steve's offense required more than a half - hearted (at best) quasi apology.
And the fact that he felt comfortable enough to say it and that people dismissed it as a bad joke, should cause people to pause and examine things.
But the guy that his comment was directed towards accepted his apology and has decided to move on. I figure that everyone else should do the same. This is no longer newsworthy stuff.
They both know the media exploits and exaggerates issues because that's what readers want so stories that coincide and keeping mum would have benefitted both of them.
(I think the people who use Valvoline say a lot worse than Steve's epithet.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15651008