When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
...CNN reporting that the Windermere Police Chief is claiming that Tiger was "in and out of consciousness" yet they released him immediately and in good health?
The chief is also claiming that Elin broke the back window of the SUV to help pry him from the car even though the Orlando Sentinel reports there was hardly any visible damage to the car?
Okay here's what we know:
Tiger has a minor accident at 2:25 a.m. EST and is transported to the hospital soon thereafter.
AP sends out a breaking news alert via text noting serious injuries and charges pending around 2:30 p.m. EST, a full 12 hours after the accident.
Here's the headline on their first story and text:
Tiger Woods injured in car accident outside his Fla. home; highway patrol says charges pending
And the story itself:
Turns out, the report is seriously flawed and Tiger has a cut or cuts, no bruises and was released shortly after treatment.
GolfDigest.com noted the time elapse between accident and news:
The accident happened at 2:25 a.m., though the FHP did not release the accident report until nearly 12 hours later.
Unfortunately, the first and more serious report goes out on wires, text messages and is even scene in Times Square, reports a reader.
Now, when I get such an alert from AP I expect it to be a fairly conservative approach to the reporting, particularly that many hours after the accident. They clearly based their story on the accident report and with little on-site reporting and no comment from authorities or Tiger's company.
It would be easy to blame AP for jumping the gun, but here we are at 5:15 EST and only now do we have a posting on his website that was also seen on CNN:
From Health Central Hospital and Tiger's Woods' office:
Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night.
He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition.
We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes.
So was this "scare" and minor story gone awry a product of...
A) jump-the-gun reporting by AP?
B) a slow and unorganized response from Team Tiger?
C) the holiday with top reporters and Team Tiger members simply vacationing and unable to respond more quickly and efficiently?
Either way, a strange series of events.
Ugh. Details are sketchy but obviously, we hope he's going to be okay soon.
** Orlando Sentinel's story is here, sure to be updated as details emerge about his condition.
***Windermere Mayor on CNN reporting Tiger has been released from the hospital, good news. "Charges pending" is standard operating procedure, not a statement about anything that might have happened.
****Agent Steinberg reports Tiger is "fine" to CNBC's Darren Rovell on Twitter.
*****Golfweek quotes Hank Haney as saying Tiger is ok.
******The Orlando Sentinel's Amy L. Edwards and Henry Pierson Curtis offer this:
Inside the gated Isleworth community, a security guard was standing post outside the front of Woods' $2.4 million home. A woman who answered the door at the home at mid-afternoon declined to answer questions from the Sentinel.
A black Cadillac SUV was sitting in the driveway. FHP said Woods was driving a black Cadillac SUV at the time of the crash.
There were almost no signs of an accident at Woods' home and his next door neighbor's.
An orange-and-white street barricade sat on Woods' front lawn atop a newly dug hole, presumably where the fire hydrant previously sat.
About 10 feet away, a foot-long tire mark was visible in the neighbor's yard near a tree with freshly damaged bark. That oak tree had a few scuff marks on its trunk but was largely undamaged.
Don't miss Jaime Diaz's interview with Lee Trevino in this month's Golf Digest.
The Tiger Woods talk caught my eye:
...or is it jargon?
After his wild-off-the-tee third round:
"I was spinning the ball quite a bit with the driver today and I didn't quite have it right," he said.
Spinning=spraying, no?
And after winning, talking to Australian TV about what he did to get things squared away around round three and in preparation for the final round:
"I did some rehearsals last night and felt very comfortable with what I was going to do today."
Rehearsals=hitting balls?
Any others you've heard?
What a delight watching Kingston Heath during round one of the JB Were Australian Masters. Tiger Woods posted a 66 in front of huge crowds and we were treated to several hours on Golf Channel here in the U.S. Not only is the golf course so lovely to look at, but the flow of the telecast was far different than what we're used to hear in the States.
A few things about the broadcast stood out:
- Camera angles. Perhaps they were forced to have some alternatives, but a few holes featured a nice side view look at a green instead of the standard rear tower. It added variety and gave us a better sense of the architecture.
- No promos. It's amazing how much better the telecast flowed without the relentless plugs for NCIS and reality shows and...
- Made the announcing so much more enjoyable. Particularly the Ian Baker-Finch/Brett Ogle portions. Not having to read so many plugs allowed them to engage in some informative discussions about how holes had changed thanks to technology, what a great job Mike Clayton did adding the 11th hole (and why), and overall the better flow lent a relaxed, welcoming tone that made the telecast feel like we were merely listening in on a conversation among knowledgeable fans. IBF also ably explained the strategy behind some of the holes as we were treated to graphic flyovers.
- Focusing on two groups. What a joy to really study one group primarily (Badds, Appleby, Coltart) with select shots from others like Adam Scott and Matthew Goggin. This allowed us to take a tour of the course (aided by those great hole graphics) and to see a nice variety of shots, not just an onslaught of putts. Baddelay was all over the place, but his swing looks sensational and you get the sense he's making progress. Getting to see so much of his round made for more interesting viewing, even though he wasn't playing that well.
Not surprisingly, the golf course also came off beautifully. The sparse and dry roughs, the lay of the land feel of the holes and those wondrous bunkers jutting into greens with so little rough between the two: perfection!
For those who watched, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
John Huggan is tired of Tiger Woods. Off the course.
For a man who has never been known to give up with a club in his hands -- one of his most admirable qualities -- the world's best golfer appears to do little more than go through the motions when it comes to his obligations elsewhere. And yes, obligations is the correct word; Tiger earns a lot of money from playing golf in public. One would think he'd try to give a bit more of himself to the people who ultimately fund his opulent jet-set lifestyle.
Take his pre-tournament press conference at this week's JBWere Masters in Melbourne. OK, so the whole thing was a bit of a farce, from the tedious and self-serving seven-and-a-half-minute monologue from John Brumby, the Premier of Victoria -- your typically vacuous and preening politician -- to the totally un-cool rounds of applause that both preceded and ended the proceedings. But, as per usual, Tiger (who more than once appeared to be on the point of nodding off during Brumby's bletherings) batted back questions, good, bad, tough and softball, with responses that at best could be described as predictable.
While I see Mr. Huggan's point, he forgets that America loves the non-answer, non-controversial, safe, middle of the road star. Frankly, I admire Tiger for detecting this and milking it to his financial advantage. It takes a lot of will power to pull it off!
As if Tiger doesn't have enough on his plate, now he has the local gossip columnist bashing his wife's taste in home architecture.
It’s a cross between a discount motel and a beachside nursing home! But hey, from what I’ve been told, Woods’ Swedish missus, Elin Nordegren, is calling the shots on this one. Woods bought four adjacent properties on the tony island for a Martin County-record $44.5 million in 2006. He then tore down the existing homes on the 12 acres, including a classic-looking manse. The new 9,700-square-foot home is split between the living quarters (right on the photo above) and a gym (left side). Both sides will be connected with a glass-covered walkway, according to the blue prints. Good thing the plans call for so much foliage around the house that few passers-by will be able to see it!
There seems to be no shortage of talk about Tiger's appearance fee in Australia and a calculated effort to spin it as a chance for him to brush up on his design expertise, not for the $3 million he's reportedly receiving.
Mark Hayes and Michael Warner in the Herald Sun talked to Sunshine Stevie Williams and lived to write about it:
The golfing superstar was holed up inside his luxury Southbank hotel suite, but continued his pre-Masters reconnaissance mission by sending his caddie to inspect the course.
Steve Williams spent two hours recording distances on all 18 holes in a sign his boss is determined to earn his giant $3 million pay packet.
"I suggested to Tiger several months ago that now he's in the golf course design business that maybe he bring one of his guys down here to take a look," Williams revealed.
"And he's done that, because in such a small, concentrated area, you've got some of the best courses in the world. The design and the bunkering on this course is unique and very, very good.
"I'm sure he (Tiger) will be looking at it tomorrow."
Now, if he goes to see some other courses in his spare time like Crenshaw would, then we'll know he really is serious about this design stuff.
Meanwhile on the appearance fee, Peter Stone opened his story today with this anecdote:
TIGER WOODS is relentless in his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's record 18 major victories - with just four left to equal the Golden Bear. So, with a sense of mischief, let's suggest another way he could emulate the great Nicklaus.
We'll go back to the 1975 Australian Open, the first of four opens sponsored by the late Kerry Packer at The Australian, when Nicklaus headlined the field for a modest appearance fee.
Like Woods, Nicklaus was undisputed world No.1 at the time. Nicklaus asked Packer what prizemoney was on offer that week and, when told, Nicklaus immediately added his fee to the purse, which brought total prizemoney to $35,000.
So began the Packer/Nicklaus solution to appearance money. In following years, each invited player was paid $6000 and, in 1976, total prizemoney was lifted to $200,000.
This week, the Australian Masters purse is $1.5 million and Woods is reportedly receiving a $US3m ($3.3m) appearance fee.
Would Woods do the same as Nicklaus this week? Dream on.
But most of the fretting over the amount looks like it'll prove futile, because as Steve Elling notes, the event is looking like a hit, no thanks to Greg Norman:
But hand it to the Aussies, they had not seen Woods in 11 years, and he once again proved to be the game's ultimate show pony. Officials reported selling all 100,000 tickets (capped at $44 Australian dollars per round) for the week, and presumably, the Victorian government has a chance of finishing in the black once all the hotel stays, car rentals and incidentals are tolled. By the way, the tax hit in Australia is a shade under 50 percent in this bracket, so Woods will be contributing to the Oz coffers himself, too. Ah, economics in the 21st century, huh?
And judging by Patrick Smith's cranky reaction, someone in IMG's PR department has done a fine job overprepping the media for Tiger's arrival.
The reaction it must be said was childish and so fevered that normally sensible people lost the plot. Helicopters chopped above Essendon Airport, TV cameras covered this angle, that angle. Print journalists jotted down his every move. Even moves he might have made but didn't.
When he set his left foot on the tarmac, the world's greatest golfer said: "This is one small step for Tiger, one giant leap for golf". Or apparently words to that effect. Tiger's entourage is apparently colour-coded to make it easier to control them. It was noted who went into the different-coloured cars. Even the luggage van was described to radio listeners.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
