I didn't want to pile on, but Hank Haney Tweeted a "wow" to Sean Foley's criticism in the Evans/SI interview this week reminds me of the bickering between Tiger mistresses. And as a blogger, it's my duty to keep these two lovebirds bickering communicating publicly!
The big takeaway from Tiger's CNN International interview with Shane O'Donoghue revolved around his suggestion that maybe he wasn't ready when he came back at Augusta last year. But I was fascinated by something he mentioned in responding to a question about whether the club will have to lengthen the course for today's bombers.
Note that he mentions the added length, the second cut, the cutting of the fairways toward the tee to slow balls down, but I don't recall anyone before saying that the fairway cut is a little longer, as he does here. He certainly would know and it's something I'm going to ask a few former champions about next week.
My number one observation from watching the 86 Masters today was how much more the tee shots roll when they hit the ground. It's great fun watching what the ball does on the ground, especially on 15 fairway.
The former Tiger Woods instructor wasmade available to anyone who would listen so that he could plug the season finale of his reality show. Unfortunately, he wasn't the train wreck that Charlie Sheen was, but Hank Haney did offers some interesting stuff on his former pupil. (Only Gary Van Sickle at golf.com refused to ask Tiger questions, so if you want to read about the great strides Rush Limbaugh made, this is your Q&A.)
In this sense, McIlroy has been like the child from the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Emperor’s New Clothes . Where others fear to voice what is obvious, McIlroy does not mince his words or hide the fact the man who was once a role model has now been laid bare as a tarnished anti-hero with a balky golf swing.
Frank Deford likens Tiger and interest in watching him play to the Broadway disaster that is Spider-Man.
You know what he reminds me of? The Broadway musical Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark. It sells out to the curious, even though the critics hate it and it's always a tease, always a work in progress. And there's a dark side that draws us in. Maybe Spidey will find itself. But maybe it'll only be always not quite there.
We watch Tiger Woods with the same almost morbid fascination, afraid to look away because if we do, we'll miss it if he miraculously returns to greatness, as if age doesn't matter with majesty, and what changed his life was all just a bump in the road.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.