He gets several tournament directors and agents to talk, and they are not pleased to see what's going on.
The tour uses a very narrow, if not convenient, definition of "appearance fee." If a player has deeper business dealings with a corporate entity beyond taking cash to play, then he's generally free to ink a personal-services deal for whatever dollar figure he can command. If this sounds mostly like semantics, well, the line forms here.
As one very high-profile international player put it on Tuesday, "This week marks a change. Appearance money [is being paid in the] U.S. but not in Europe."
After arriving Tuesday, Woods was not specifically asked if he was being compensated by Justice this week, though a local reporter did ask if Justice resorted to “pulling his arm” to get him there.
"What sold it to me was watching it on TV and seeing how players enjoyed it," Woods said unblinkingly.
Um, did he say "sold?"
Mickelson played at Greenbrier last year -- for two days. He missed the cut.
"I know for a fact that Phil got $1 million last year," one top-tier agent insisted, citing a figure that was echoed by two other tour-related sources.
"I have to deal with it in every single press conference," he said. "I have to answer it in post-round interviews—whether it's with your guys or in a live shot [on TV]. You do that for a couple of years, sometimes you guys can be a little annoying."
Rumors have also circulated that Turkish Airlines would serve as a sponsor for Woods himself, but Steinberg maintained that is premature.
“That’s in its very embryonic stages right now,” he said. “I think Turkish Airlines is a very substantial event sponsor. Have there been some discussions? Yes, but it’s in the early stages.”
Jay Coffin notes an interesting Golf Channel Morning Drive discussion where Tiger bud Notah Begay suggested that based on Sunday's post round comments, Tiger takes great inspiration from proving his media critics wrong.
"Well, a lot of media people didn't think I could win again, and I had to deal with those questions for quite a bit," Woods said Sunday. "It was just a matter of time; I could see the pieces coming together."
Begay was asked if he believes Woods keeps score with the media, if he's aware of everything that's said or written about him.
"He doesn't forget what people write," Begay said. "He probably has a list under his pillow that motivates him at night."
Then shouldn't he actually like what the media is doing for his game? Maybe send down some champagne after a victory? You know, a little something for the effort?
And maybe the most impressive, as he faced withering heat, a stubborn Bo Van Pelt and a difficult test, pulling off only-Tiger-can-hit-that-shots at 12 and 18 to win the AT&T National.
"No offense to any of those other guys, but he's the only guy to win three tournaments on TOUR this year;" said Van Pelt, who assisted Woods by bogeying his final three holes. "On three different golf courses, and he was leading the U.S. Open after two days. So I'd say that he's playing the best golf in the world right now."
Three times, Woods took the outright lead in the final round. Each time, Van Pelt made a birdie of his own to catch him. The tournament was decided on the last three holes, and it featured a surprising turn of events.
Van Pelt had Woods on the ropes on the par-5 16th by ripping a 345-yard tee shot and having only a 6-iron into the green. Woods hit a spectator in the left rough with his tee shot, laid up, and then attacked a back flag only to see the ball tumble over the green and down an 8-foot slope. It looked as if it might be a two-shot swing for Van Pelt, or at least the lead going to the 17th.
That's when Van Pelt answered with unforced errors of his own. His 6-iron was slightly heavy and didn't quite reach the bunker, meaning he had to plant his feet in the sand and grip the wedge on the shaft for his third shot. He moved it only a few yards, still in the collar of the rough, and chipped about 12 feet by the hole. Woods' chip up the slope rolled 15 feet by, and he missed the par putt.
Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: What meant the most to Tiger, I'd guess, is that he won at a Congo that played more like a major course than the Congo of June 2011, when that other "next Tiger" won. (What was his name again?) Maybe the next Tiger is ... Tiger.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: He's certainly POY so far, but even for Tiger 3.0, a year without a major is not a success. The British and PGA will determine how we (and he) view this season.
John Garrity, contributing writer, Sports Illustrated: Declaring Tiger "back" or "not back" may be a pointless exercise, but it's been a full-time job for most of us. My Tour Tempo co-author, John Novosel, declared Tiger "back" at the U.S. Open because Tiger was swinging with consistent tempo again. Same thing this week. So I say the Cat is Back and yeah, he's POY.
"I remember there was a time when people were saying I could never win again," Woods said. "Here we are.
"A lot of media people didn't think I could win again, and I had to deal with those questions for a quite a bit. It was just a matter of time."
Yet many of his doubters were also average golf fans. Since I joined ESPN.com in August, I have received an avalanche of mail from readers who have grown impatient with Tiger. Nearly every day for the past three years, people from all walks of life have drilled me with questions about Tiger's future.
Many of the fans or commenters generally fall into three camps. The first group abhors any mention of Tiger unless he's winning the tournament. On Saturday night, when Brendon De Jonge held a 1-shot lead over Tiger and Van Pelt, a reader pelted me for barely mentioning the 31-year-old Zimbabwe native in my column.
CBSSports.com includes this Feherty post-round interview with the usual sucking up from one EA Sports colleague to another, and also has Tiger talking about that incredible approach to 18.
You see a lot of things in the blogging business that make you scratch your head, but I have to say the onslaught of videos posted on YouTube today by the PGA Tour celebrating Tiger's place in the game, made me double check to see if he had announced his retirement. The videos speak of him as if he's left the game, or, God Forbid, left the planet.
Not once, not twice, not three times, but four different videos are dedicated to the same basic theme: Tiger was great, is great, may never be great again because the competition is tougher, and has been a great player in the game. It's revelatory stuff.
Almost like Commissioner Sure, Use-Our-Clubhouse-But-Bring-Your-Own-Blue-Drapes randomlycalled down to PGA Tour Productions and said, "order me up some the nostalgia, heavy on the Tiger."
Woods did appear in the AT&T National press center (transcript here, Golf Channel video below) for a Q&A and admitted his short game has been lacking. Steve DiMeglio reports:
"I finally have a swing that doesn't hurt, and I am still generating power, but it doesn't hurt anymore," said Woods, who overhauled his swing previously with Butch Harmon and Hank Haney and is now working with Sean Foley. "I would say certainly my short game has been something that has taken a hit, and it did the same thing when I was working with Butch and the same thing when I was working with Hank.
"During that period of time, my short game went down, and it's because I was working on my full game. Eventually I get to a point where the full game becomes very natural and I can repeat it day after day, and I can dedicate most of my time to my short game again."
More interesting, Woods endorsed the notion put forward by some that younger players will be turning pro earlier than they might have in the past
Woods, whose agent Mark Steinberg also represents Cantlay, endorsed the approach of the 2011 U.S. Amateur runner-up.
"I think that gives you the best chance," he said. "You play the Masters. You get the U.S. Open. You get a couple majors under your belt. You get to play with your team in college, play your entire collegiate schedule. And now you've got a lot of tournaments under your belt, and then go ahead and turn pro and try and get your card."
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Tim Rogers reports on the stunning news that Tiger Woods has committed to the WGC Bridgestone in August, maybe his earliest non-major commitment ever and the simplest but best public relations move he can make.
"This is the earliest Tiger has entered since I've been here," executive director Don Padgett III told the newspaper. "Last year he waited until the Thursday or Friday before, which is his right. But having him commit early is a plus."
Alan Shipnuckdeclares the tournament over after Tiger Woods' opening 69.
There may be 54 holes left to play, but Tiger Woods has already won this U.S. Open. Forget the fire hydrant, the swing change, the dropped-kicked 9-iron -- that's all ancient history now. Woods displayed some vintage dominance during a first round 69 at our 112th national championship. He's three shots out of the lead and no one can catch him.
The Olympic Club has a history of slaying great champions, but it's a perfect venue for Woods.
How good was Woods’ start? If you saw the mighty struggle Watson and Mickelson endured trying to survive Olympic playing with Woods, you left with an even deeper appreciation of Woods’ shot-making.
Woods whipped up on Watson, the reigning Masters champ, by nine shots. He finished seven shots better than Mickelson.
Beautiful . . . Awesome . . . Impressive.
There’s only one reasonable response the rest of the field can have to those assessments by Woods’ playing partners.
Yikes!
Steve Elling went the entire 18 with Tiger and shares details from inside the ropes, including this about the driving show by Woods:
It was pretty pretty, actually. Woods was credited with hitting 10 of 14 fairways, which is accurate, but it requires an asterisk and an explanation.
On three of those holes, the ball came to rest in the first cut, which means he missed by perhaps two or three feet. On the other miss, he raked a 3-wood tee shot on the drivable seventh hole, playing about 260 yards uphill, into a greenside bunker.
But it didn't require comparative statistics to know that, four years removed from his last major, Woods is once again a force with which to be reckoned. His demeanor told far more than any statistics could.
Despite having failed in the past 12 majors — the longest drought of his career — Woods wasn’t high-fiving anyone. In fact, he barely smiled.
"I’m hungry," he shrugged.
Ron Sirakwasn't so wild about the logistics of today's all-star pairing featuring Woods, Mickelson and Watson.
When all is said and done here, the USGA might want to reconsider such high-profile pairings and instead spread around the talent wealth. About the only folks who really benefitted from Woods, Mickelson and Watson playing together was ESPN, which has the early-round TV rights. Almost everyone other stakeholder got the short end of the stake.
The crush of gallery and media about the group made it difficult to see for those folks who paid good money to be on property. It also left other groups with embarrassingly small crowds. And clearly, the carnival atmosphere didn't help either Mickelson or Watson.
John Strege'smedia notes include some nice moaning about Chris Berman's announcing from Twitter and an Andy North analogy between Tiger's play today and his play at Hoylake.
Growing up as Tiger’s niece had its advantages and its disadvantages.
“I would say the best thing is definitely just having him as an uncle and having him there to support me,” Cheyenne said. “He is obviously amazing at golf. Having him there, and knowing I can go to him whenever I need, is nice to have.
“The most difficult thing is dealing with the pressure, but I have dealt with it a long time, and I have somehow been able to play my own game. That’s what I mainly try to think about is playing my own game, just trying to do my own thing and not worrying about what others are thinking.”
Though Cheyenne didn’t accumulate an amateur record close to her famous uncle’s – who does? – she believes she has some Tiger in her. “I think I do,” she said. “It’s not like you can control it, but if I put myself in a pressure-packed situation, I think I’m definitely able to buckle down and get through it.”
"He's always telling me just to kick butt," she said. "You know, Tiger is always dominating, so that is the one word of advice he would give me. He is obviously amazing at golf, and having him there and knowing I can go to him whenever I need him is nice to have."
Cheyenne Woods does not join the LPGA with the same skill level Tiger Woods brought to the pro game in 1996, but then again, few in the history of the sport have. She does, however, show the promise to compete on tour well enough to not only keep her card, when she gets it, but also win. While Cheyenne may not be the female version of her famous uncle, that smile and her easy manner could give the LPGA another marketable vehicle on which to hang its hat if she does win.
I got to see much of Tiger's round at Muirfield Village and I don't think the difficulty of the course and conditions can be underestimated in the inevitable onslaught of praise heaped on his 73rd PGA Tour win. For now, the nuts and bolts coverage.
“He did inform us who he was,” Fisher said in a telephone interview. “It is what it is. He was intoxicated.”
Steinberg, in an e-mail, said “it’s a medical issue that I was dealing with. It’s not what you think.” Fisher said Steinberg gave no indication of a medical issue.
“It was alcohol related,” Fisher said. “He submitted to a chemical test to determine alcohol-blood content and he failed that test.”
And the arrest report making the rounds and sure to become an IMG office refrigerator favorite.
Geoff Shackelford
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.
He gets several tournament directors and agents to talk, and they are not pleased to see what's going on.
