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
From Darren Rovell's story on the business of Tiger...
EA released its online game the week of the Masters and EA spokesman David Tinson reports that 4.2 million rounds have been played in the last three months, with the average player playing 2.1 rounds a day. “We’re encouraged by the trends we’re seeing and continue to invest in bringing more experiences like this online as the business continues to transition to digital.” Woods will still be the main endorser behind Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11 that hits shelves on June 8, although he will share the cover with Rory McIlroy.
So Tiger, who wouldn't be caught dead on the par-3 course before the Masters (and who can blame him after what it's turned into) because he's preparing for the tournament, will play the former champion challenge event on Wednesday of Open Championship week. That leaves Jack, Nick Price, and Johnny Miller as the only living absentees (along with 89-year-old Kel Nagle).
Not surprisingly, the details emerging from the Galea charges paint a dreadful picture on many levels.
Mike Fish reporting for ESPN.com:
Slipped into John Huggan's column on Hank Haney was this about Tiger looper Stevie Williams.
Last week at the Players, Williams was even more taciturn than usual, a fact that betrayed a growing frustration with both his boss and the rubbish golf he was playing at Sawgrass. There seemed to be little or no interaction between the pair, even at times when Williams would normally be expected to step up and get in his man's ear.
There are growing rumours too that Mrs Williams (a close friend of the soon-to-be ex-Mrs Woods), disgusted by the salacious behaviour of Woods over the past few months, is keen for her husband to work in a, shall we say, cleaner atmosphere.
It is rather apparent in person that the old Stevie-Tiger vibe is gone, with Stevie much less animated and the conversations between the two minimized.
Hank Haney's insights into Tiger's possible progress in his sex rehab should be questioned, but his thoughts on PED use by Tiger drew even more ridicule from the SI/golf.com gang:
Bamberger: Haney says that he doesn't believe Tiger ever used performance-enhancing drugs. I hope he's correct. But if Woods had, I think there is NO chance that Hank would have known about it. In my experience, athletes who have used PEDs will lie to their grandmothers about it.
Morfit: Exactly. If I'm Tiger and I'm taking PEDs, I'm not picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, Hank, it's T — you'll never believe what I just put into my smoothie." Not going to happen.
Godich: There is no way Tiger would share THAT with anyone.
Morfit: Remember, this is a guy who wouldn't even tell us his neck hurt.
Herre: Haney says he didn't know about the women, either.
Evans: Remember guys, Hank was just an employee of Tiger, he wasn't a Jack Grout figure to him, some super-influential, fatherly figure full of pearls of wisdom.
Dusek: Hank said the only thing he saw Dr. Galea put in Tiger was what Galea had just taken out of Tiger and spun. But Hank can only really comment on what he saw. As Haney (and the rest of us) learned, there were lots of things in Tiger's life that were happening, but not out in the open.
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: This is where Tiger's being untruthful about so many things comes back to haunt him. He has no credibility. Now I question everything he says.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
