Tom Watson And Tiger Woods: No Bromance Here
This will add to the team room fun should Tom Watson be named 2014 Ryder Cup Captain on Thursday, as Tim Rosaforte reports. Because, after all, Watson will likely helm a squad including Tiger Woods barring an unforseen, fall 2014 flare-up in his Achilles!
Just a reminder of the nice bond these two share:
February, 2010, Watson on Woods:
“I feel that he has not carried the same stature that other great players that have come along like Jack (Nicklaus), Arnold (Palmer), Byron Nelson, the Hogans, in the sense that there was language and club throwing on the golf course,” said Watson, a playoff loser to Stewart Cink at last year’s British Open. “You can grant that of a young person that has not been out here for a while. But I think he needs to clean up his act and show the respect for the game that other people before him have shown.”
At the 2010 U.S. Open when they shared the tenth tee together. Karen Crouse wrote:
As they waited to hit, neither Watson nor Woods exchanged glances, much less niceties, their cold shoulders turning the tee into an outdoor icebox. The distance between them was accentuated when the golfer Jason Gore made his way to the hole and received a warm hello and a hug from Woods who, like Watson, has won a United States Open here. Standing between Woods and Watson like a buffer was another Stanford golfer, Joseph Bramlett, who was playing with his childhood idol, Woods, two days after going through graduation ceremonies. It was three generations of Cardinal golfing royalty sharing a moment that could have been captured only by the widest of wide-angle lenses.
“His life is a lot more complicated now. He doesn’t hear that absolute silence when he’s playing, and he mentioned when he’s playing his best he hears nothing,” the American eight-times major winner told a news conference on Wednesday. “I’m sure there are things going on in his mind that make it very difficult for him.”
Yet it was Tiger who was the gentleman at the 2010 Open Championship, waving Watson's group up so that the legend could finish Friday evening in the late light.
This AP image by Alistair Grant is the only photo I can find of the two sharing the same general vicinity.
There's also the video where Watson's disdain for his fellow Stanford alum comes shining through.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 12:17 AM
Reader Comments (34)
Drama sells. What could be more dramatic than Watson being put in a position to consider Woods as a Captain;'s pick?
They will not submit to the media's desire for controversy.
Tiger does have a long memory about things said about him. Watson is not without his failings.
I'm sure that Watson won't "pander" to anyone (not sure how Tiger was pandered to, but whatever). Whether an autocratic style is best is a debatable point. The US team did lead this yr by 4 points going into Sunday. Hard to fault there performance as a team.
to this point, watson no longer has the capability to properly execute as a captain for the team, his presence will be detrimental to the team vibe...which is critical in golf...
i often wondered what watson's goal was during that time, offering his opinion on tiger
great thing is, tom has continued in fine form recently with his comments about the olympics and other topics not at all concerning him...kind of reminds me of greg norman's behavior....
both watson and norman need to leave us with their amazing golf achievements to remember them by...not this kind ancillary noise tainting their images
i lol @ watson and norman...
Tiger and Stricker stank at the 2011 Presidents Cup together and then lost the first two matches at Medinah and then still got paired on Saturday afternoon? THAT's pandering.
This gets back to my comments on an earlier post about Watson having a very tight-assed side to him.
I used to admire him so much. But in the last two decades he's become annoyingly pompous. Maybe his downfall started when he went snitching to teacher about Gary McCord's innocent "bikini wax" joke. And I certainly don't want to hear him lecturing Tiger about morals, not after the way Watson stole Denis Watson's wife Hilary away.
You ever go hunting morning doves with your cousin?
He SHOULD be Captain.
I do recall Watson lecturing Woods about on-course behavior (club throwing, hocking fat loogies on the green, f-bombing, gd-bombing). That's different.
I don't think Watson really cares if Woods banged 100+ pornstars, pancake waitresses, next door neighbor daughters, escorts, LV event planners/hostesses. I have never heard a peep from Watson about morals.
As for W. vs. W. let's set the stage: one is an arrogant, pampered talent who quickly came to believe that he was bigger than the game while the other is a pompous, by-the-book traditionalist who can quickly forget that his personal flaws are easily ignored. Having said that, Woody must have been simply STUNNED that a modern-day icon actually once had the temerity to actually call him out, opportunities conveniently avoided by Nicklaus and Palmer. Of course, none of Woods' playing contemporaries would offer the same criticism because they might one day have to be paired with him but the now-on-the-sidelines Watson had the convenience of distance that allowed him to simply say what virtually every real golfer was thinking: "Hey, Woods, we know you can play but isn't it time you showed some Respect For The Game?"
As a poster stated earlier, Tom and Tiger will soon issue assurances that they Get Along Just Fine but at some point the old stories will again ramp up: Will Watson have the guts to sit Tiger? Will Watson pick Tiger if he doesn't make it on points? Will Watson tell Tiger who he's playing with? Will Watson and Woods come to blows after a disputed point in Ping Pong?
As for me, the hype about the Ryder Cup is waaaay overblown so will somebody please just wake me on September 26, 2014?
When Couples asked Tiger to partner with DJ, he partnered with DJ
Personally, I don't see the big deal of being captain with the current system. You want to make the role of captain more significant than being a glorified chaperone/fashion-stylist? Then let him pick his entire team for better or for worse.
To refresh you memory regarding the Baddely/Day Smackdown of Woods/Stricker in one of the worst losses in Presidents Cup History ...
http://www.golf.com/ap-news/woods-and-stricker-tie-worst-loss-presidents-cup-history
Consider my facts: Checked.
But really it doesn't matter, like it or not Tiger (and Stricker) were treated exactly the same as everyone else: they were asked who they wanted to play with, partnered together, and not deviated from. To break them up may have been smart, but it would also have been treating them differently. It's not pandering (except maybe on a team wide level), it was just his strategy.
But again, if Rose doesn't hole a 35ft putt in a singles match, we're not even talking about this. The US was up 10-6 after the team portion.
That's pretty funny!
everyone loves to second guess after the fact. if tiger loses after being paired with someone else there would be the same people moaning. Maybe Tiger was fine with playing with whoever and it was Love's decision to put him with Stricker. Is that pandering? Elf is right, if a one of the multiple miracle putts don't drop no one really cares and pandering isn't a issue.
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