Why Tiger Has A Boat Called Privacy Files: Merion Housing Edition

Jere Longman looked at Merion's successful week and some of the stuff that went on behind the scenes.

He included this anecdote that is yet another reminder why...ah you know the drill.

Woods was the subject of countless rumors about his living arrangements during the Open, all entertaining, none necessarily reliant on the truth.

One rumor, debunked by a police officer assigned to Woods, had him installing a pool at his rental house. On Sunday, Joe DiTomo, a volunteer driver for the players, said that Woods reportedly grew upset with the house and moved into a hotel.

“I wouldn’t repeat it,” DiTomo said, “but I heard it from a nun on the way to church. I didn’t realize nuns followed golf.”

Just A Mood Brightener For Your Midweek Blues: Sergio Garcia Sat Down To Pen Tiger Woods An Apology Note

There is justice!

I'm not sure why the mental image provides such pleasure--maybe it's the thought of Sergio ala Nicholas Cage in Adaptation working through writers block and taking an hour just to write the words Dear Tiger,--but the handwritten note was the big reveal from Tuesday's U.S. Open press conferences at Merion.

Sam Weinman with the lowdown and final chapter in the saga between these lovebirds...well, until they are paired together.

When bad weather rolled in Monday afternoon, Garcia lost track of Woods and never got a chance to see him again. That left him to leave a note for Woods in the locker room. Whether Woods read it or not is something he wasn't willing to acknowledge -- only saying that Garcia never apologized to him in person and that he had bigger things to worry about.

"It's already done," Woods said. "We've already gone through it all. It's time for the U.S. Open."

Should you want, here are parts of their press conferences. Starting with Sergio.

And Tiger.

"Hogan and Woods a lot alike"

Gene Wojciechowski took his life into his own hands and posed the above thought to Hogan fan supreme Dan Jenkins over Carshon's Deli chocolate pie.

Jenkins' eyes narrowed and for a moment I thought he was going to stab me with my car sun visor. Remember, this week's U.S. Open is the 60th of Jenkins' brilliant sportswriting career and his 218th major. And it is being played on sacred ground: Merion Golf Club, where Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open, just 16 months after nearly losing his life in a car crash.

There was a painful pause, nearly as long as it takes Kevin Na to line up a putt, before Jenkins finally said, "How so?"

Wojciechowski's comparison is pretty good, even Dan might...might have to admit.

They each completely retooled their golf swings and then totally committed themselves to those changes.

They understood that the secret, as Hogan once said, "was in the dirt." Translation: Practice until your callouses had callouses.

They had little or no respect for players who didn't work hard.

They were aware of their critics, detractors and doubters, remembered every word, and used the criticism as motivation.

They were essentially loners: loyal to a select few; careful, guarded to most everyone else.

Tiger sat down with Wojciechowski for ESPN's Sunday Night Conversation:

Best GIF Yet: Evolution Of Tiger's Swing

Thanks to reader Tuco for sending and Shane Bacon for finding this Adam Sarson GIF of Tiger's swings from wee lad to today.

Cool stuff.

Assessing Tiger's Memorial Week & A New Nike Contract?

Strong analysis of Tiger Woods' Memorial week--in case you were suddenly down on the lad's chances at Merion--starting with this from Robert Lusetich.

Yet at Memorial Woods hit 46 of 56 fairways — good for fifth in the field — and drove it not just straight but long.

It reflected the work Woods has put in to his driving game given the importance of tee shots at Merion, a tight course where the winner won’t have played from the long rough.

In Ohio, his short irons were inconsistent, his short game bad and his putting was abysmal.
That’s a cause for concern, but those facets of his game have been strong points all year.
And then there’s the fact that it wasn’t a slow bleed.

Woods made 15 birdies — and missed countless other chances — but uncharacteristically blew up, making three double bogeys and two triples, something he hasn’t done in a tournament in 16 years.

Gene Wojciechowski went to the top for advice on Tiger.

And just to make the point, Nicklaus told a story.

"I'll give you this one," he said, smiling. "Last U.S. Open I won I shot 72-79 the week before. I missed the cut. Atlanta. OK, how's that? And then I broke the Open record.

"So I wouldn't read too much into that."

Nicklaus got most of the facts right.

He did miss the cut at the 1980 Atlanta Classic at the Atlanta Athletic Club, but he shot 78-67. And sure enough, he went to Baltusrol and broke his own U.S. Open record for total score (272) -- a record that stood until McIlroy's performance at Congressional in 2011.

I'm with Nicklaus. I wouldn't read too much into what Woods did here. He has won big here and he's stunk it up big here too.

Three of his worst 22 finishes as a pro have come at Memorial. It happens.

Meanwhile those sleepless nights for many of you can end now that agent Mark Steinberg reveals to Bob Harig that Tiger is just about ready to sign a new deal and that he hopes it's viewed as a "bold statement." The deal will be done as soon as Steiny stops yapping to the press about it and gets the paperwork in front of Tiger, Tiger says.

This was interesting:

Earlier this year, Golf Digest, as part of an annual report on golfer's incomes, put Woods' earnings at $77-million off the course in 2012. It did not break down what he received from Nike, although the figure is believed to be more than $20 million per year. Sports Illustrated, however, as part of a recent compilation called "The Fortunate 50," pegged his total compensation at closer to $40 million annually.

Steinberg would not confirm specifics of those reports, saying only that "those numbers are traditionally low."

Traditionally low?

Video: Flashback To Tiger's '12 Memorial Chip-in

As we head into weekend play at The Memorial and defending champion Tiger Woods trails by ten shots, we look back at his unforgettable hole out from off the 16th green in 2012.

Ageless: Captain Couples Edges Tiger & 14 Y. O. Guan Almost Does

Tiger said his red-hot putter was undermined by a couple of bad reads but an overall decent ball striking afternoon, even if his Presidents Cup Captain and Hall of Fame geezer Fred Couples beat him in their (requested) head-to-head pairing. By no means is this a setback in his quest to win an amazing 6th Memorial or to get his game ready for Merion (unlike McIlroy's 78 in the benign morning conditions).

Dave Shedloski reports on the Woods, Couples, Bradley pairing.

"I won't lie to you, I asked to see if I could get paired [with Woods]; it probably might be my last time playing with Tiger," said Couples, who withdrew from last week's Senior PGA Championship because his bad back flared up. "Maybe at Augusta I might get paired with him. If he can be leading after two rounds again, maybe I'll get a shot at him. So I was blessed to play with him. And my goal when I play with him always is to try to hit it solid and stay out of his way. And today was a good one. I did beat him."

The 14 year-old Tianlang Guan missed a short putt on the last to post a still-impressive 72 in the afternoon when unpredictable breezes created headaches for the last few groups.  Doug Ferguson's assortment of notes covers Guan's late round and also includes an item on how fast the course is playing, another on Rory and a look at the cell phone task force at work.

Ashleigh Ignelzi and I talk about the opening round from the Nationwide Digital House, which is led by Charl Schwartzel (65), followed by Scott Piercy (66).

"Imagine if Woods and Phil Mickelson did something like that today."

Great job by Doug Ferguson to remind the gentleman's game types bemoaning all of the controversy of late as an aberration that is not good for the sport.

This isn't the first time golf has gone way beyond birdies and bogeys.

There was the lawsuit involving Ping and the square grooves in the 1980s. There was Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, leading the breakaway from the PGA of America to start what is now the PGA Tour at the end of the 1960s. Imagine if Woods and Phil Mickelson did something like that today.

''It's not a perfect game,'' Curtis Strange said. ''Some people believe there's no such thing as bad press, but it seems like we're still having growing issues. We're learning how to handle doping issues, although nobody has learned to do that yet. I'm been reading about Lance Armstrong all day.''

And Ferguson also notes...

And it's not anything Finchem can make go away with a wave of his hand. Considering that golf is a niche sport, maybe that's not the worst thing.

Speaking of the racial dust-up from last week, Tiger was asked about it Wednesday and he continues to handle a tricky situation quite well.

Bob Harig with the lowdown on Woods' press conference that touched on the Sergio row, Merion and other topics.

"Well, I live it," he said. "It's happened my entire life, and it's happened my entire career. So that doesn't surprise me. It exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf. It exists everywhere. I know that a lot of people are trying to make a difference and trying to make it more fair for all of us."

When asked about the abundance of outside-the-ropes news in golf this year -- the anchoring ban, Vijay Singh's lawsuit against the PGA Tour, the Garcia flap -- Woods simply said, "Well, I've won four times (on the PGA Tour)."

State Of The Game Podcast 22: Anchoring, Race Issues & Rio

We cover a broad spectrum on the latest issue, including the ramifications of the anchoring ban, the recent racial insensitivity and my visit to Rio to see the Olympic course under construction.

Rod Morri hosts Mike Clayton and myself this week. As always, you can subscribe or listen on itunes, or below:

Video: NMA Tackles Anchoring Ban, Fried Chicken

As always, the wild and wacky folks at NMA TV have managed to conjure up some images that will give you nightmares.

In this week's issue they cover both the news on anchored putters and Sergio Garcia's fried chicken remark.

Steiny Gives Garcia Clearance To Move Forward With His Life

From Ewan Murray's Guardian game story at the BMW PGA.

Sergio talking after his round about his call with Tiger ten-percenter Mark Steinberg:

"I talked to [Woods's agent] Mark Steinberg and he said to move forward," Garcia said. "But hopefully I will get the chance to talk to Tiger in person and, if not, I hope to see him at the US Open and we can talk face to face there."

"The only thing the Spaniard has achieved in the last 24 hours was to make a sympathetic character out of Woods"

Tom English with a super assessment of the Sergio Garcia mea culpa.

By the time he had finished his mea culpa you almost started to feel some pity for him. Woods is not only trouncing him on the golf course but he’s also trouncing him off it. Woods has the career that Garcia always wanted. At one time, many years ago now, these two looked like they were going to form the rivalry of 
the age but Garcia has been a profound disappointment on that score.

The only thing the Spaniard has achieved in the last 24 hours was to make a sympathetic character out of Woods – a hell of a feat beyond the ken of so many who are paid to do it, but now achieved, ironically, by the man who dislikes him more than most.

John Huggan reminds us that there are others who have made mistaken comments who still populate the airwaves.

An off-the-cuff comment regarding fried chicken -- while brainless almost beyond belief -- wasn't as damaging or hurtful as Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman saying Woods' nearest pursuers should "lynch him in a back alley." And, last time I looked, Ms. Tilghman was still on the air.

While Garcia is clearly guilty of crass stupidity, to condemn and categorize him solely on the basis of a single phrase uttered during an adrenaline-charged interview alongside his 2012 Ryder Cup teammates would be wrong. Just as no sensible assessment of a golfer's worth can be made after only one shot or one round or one tournament, the same criteria must surely apply to any assessment of a man's character.

And the Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson suggests that Sergio's £5 million-a-year deal with
TaylorMade may be in jeopardy.  Even better is the photo that ran with it of Tim Finchem doing his best somber executive look.