"Now there is potential to doubt that Woods will keep protecting the field above his own self-interest."

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Two very tough (and similar) commentaries from respected writers on Tiger's rules situations, starting with AP's Doug Ferguson reviewing Woods' 2013 rules run-ins and suggesting that he risks "losing the locker room":

A few players privately mocked him during the final round at Conway Farms. ''Oscillation'' became a punch line.

Was it worth it?

Whether he likes it or not, Woods is held to a different standard, just as Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were before him in the television era. He gets more attention. He draws the largest crowds. He's on TV more. His every move is scrutinized.

There's no point complaining any longer that it's unfair to use television footage to determine penalties. Everyone is expected to play by the rules – whether there's a TV camera there or not – and accept the penalty, even when players unknowingly break them. It's already in the rule book under Decision 34-3/9: ''Testimony of those who are not a part of the competition, including spectators, must be accepted and evaluated. It is also appropriate to use television footage and the like to assist in resolving doubt.''

What's worse? Someone calling in a possible violation from the couch, or an official ignoring evidence of a violation?

Jaime Diaz in this week's Golf World says Tiger digging in even after the evidence was presented does not bode well:

That Woods disputed the visual evidence in the scoring trailer, to the point of admittedly getting "pretty hot," evoked the image of Michelle Wie's petulant and feeble self-defense at the 2010 Kia Classic, when she said she had grounded her club in the water to balance herself. It was a claim that video replay clearly refuted.

At the BMW, Woods had a chance on Saturday to wipe the slate clean by saying that he had been in error and accepted his penalty as proper. Instead, his unbending denial in the face of such strong evidence hurt his good name. Now there is potential to doubt that Woods will keep protecting the field above his own self-interest. It means all the respect he has earned is unofficially under reassessment.

Oh Do Tell: Woods, Finchem Meet For An Hour

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GolfChannel.com Digital, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Digital, were visionairies in naming their first born, reports that Tiger Woods and Commissioner Tim Finchem met for over an hour Wednesday. An hour, for Tiger preparing to tee off the next day in a big event and listening to the Commish bellow on, is the equivalent of a 24 hour meeting for the rest of us.

Here's guessing they were not comparing notes on the G650 or working a Steve Sands-branded whiteboard over how to revamp the FedExCup points (again) or discussing how to televise all of Tiger's shots in SD to avoid future rules mishaps.

Digital speculates that it had to do with "call-in" violations based on Tiger's press conference remarks.

“There are certainly a lot more viewer call-ins,” Woods said. “I get it from the first time I step on the range on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all the way through, and virtually every shot is on something, and some of the top players are getting it. Most players don't get it until they're in the leader groups on Saturday or Sunday.”

Bob Harig zones in on Tiger's assertion that there needs to be a time-limit on call-ins, though what that has to do with any of the situations he was involved in is beyond me!

"There needs to be a time limit, and I think there needs to be a discussion obviously where is that time limit? Where is that line of demarcation? You've got to start with disqualification and then work our way back from there.

Oscillategate Moves To The Forensic Analysis Stage

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Before we get to the photos of Tiger's BMW ball move sent in by a reader, we have more analysis from a variety of corners.

Ewan Murray in The Guardian:

There are those who remain quick to denigrate both the game of golf and Woods himself at any available opportunity. Golf is treated as a chummy closed shop by its' critics and Woods's public profile will never recover from the misdemeanours which wrecked both his marriage and place in American sporting hearts. Yet even through that, his integrity when at his place of work was never subject to question.

Woods famously insisted he didn't "get to play by different rules" in 2010 in relation to his personal life. In the context of his golfing life, it is safe to say 2013 has now been overshadowed by a clutch of instances in which the finest player of a golfing generation should have known better.

Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker were more sympathetic, reports Ryan Lavner who quotes Furyk as saying he "didn’t realize that ball moved" and this from Stricker:

“The rules are tough,” Steve Stricker said, “and there’s always a fine line between oscillating and moving. A player can see it as one thing and the camera is going to obviously pick it up differently. … It’s unfortunate that he’s been at the center of this about three times this year. I don’t know why, if it’s just because all the TV is on him or what.”

And while many of us struggled to see the move in the first version, the zoom-in by Golf Channel was more clear and this screen grab by a reader who asked to remain anonymous does show the ball moving, not oscillating. The reader writes:

Even in this pixillated version from the original video you posted the ball clearly settled relative to the stick in front of it from this perspective, by at least one dimple in both the full-screen and blow-ups after Tiger moved piece of leaf litter or whatever he touched..  That is well within the visual resolution of any golfer and is why Tiger stopped.  He had to see it.  Had the ball oscillated, the left and center pieces of mud on the ball would have moved or rocked back up.  They didn’t.

Click on the image to enlarge:

 

Brandel: "I’m also critical, because I stood next to him and I watched the greatest golf swing the game has ever seen."

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Ed Sherman interviewed Brandel Chamblee about a number of topics and naturally as these things are prone to do, the talk went back to Tiger criticism. He tells Sherman that Tiger would have 25 majors by now if he'd stuck with Butch Harmon.

I found this interesting:

Tiger always was going somewhere with his golf game. Now he’s going somewhere with his golf swing.

That’s where I’m critical of him. He was in the middle of this one, long flawless note and he stopped or he was interrupted, whichever one you want to choose. And he’s trying to recreate it again.

I’m also critical, because I stood next to him and I watched the greatest golf swing the game has ever seen.

The greatest stretch of golf the world has ever seen. And he willfully dismantled it. That’s the craziest thing in the history of sports. Not golf. All of sports. There’s no equivalent to it, but if you’re a sports fan, it’s literally the ’27 Yankees starting with a new roster in 1928.

The full interview.

Brandel Says Tiger's Driver "Might as well be a dead mackerel wrapped in newspaper at the moment."

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Alex Myers on all of the things Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee had to say about Tiger's swing and approach in a recent conference call to promote the final two Reset Cup events.

Wow...

"It's a very complicated golf swing that he's trying to work on, that much fold, shaft lean, the down and the up that he has, the excessive down, the excessive up; you know, his driver might as well be a dead mackerel wrapped in newspaper at the moment. It's just awful watching him hit that golf club, just awful. It's really fun to watch guys like (Graham) DeLaet and (Henrik) Stenson and Adam Scott drive the golf ball. So yes, I definitely think Tiger Woods is overcoached."

And such nice use of the Sicillian message imagery.

He goes on to lament seeing Tiger warming up with a glove under his arm at the PGA, just a week after dominating at Firestone. Though this isn't unusual, as I've noted in Golf World the last two years seeing him do this in his pre-final round Open Championship preparation.

More interesting to me is Chamblee's point about how different Woods' game seems to be week to week. Like I said yesterday, a pairing with the far more natural-swinging and playing Jordan Spieth at the Presidents Cup might do wonders for Woods.

Stevie: All's Well With Tiger (*&^%$ Ass) And Phil ($%&^*)

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If you were looking for a good laugh to break the withering playoff tension bound to envelop Friday and Saturday's Tiger-Phil-Adam pairing at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Robert Lusetich has the story of Adam Scott looper Stevie Williams, new pal of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Or so he says.

You may recall Stevie used a less than flattering bit of imagery while suggesting that he would like to insert something into Tiger. And with Phil he just went with the more succinct "prick" description.

The Stevie-Tiger make-up story started at Merion where Stevie says he sensed that his presence made Tiger "uncomfortable," so feeling the pain and concern for his former mate, decided at Muirfield during the final round--and what better time to chum it up than during a major final round--Stevie talked auto racing with Tiger on the 8th hole. Voila! They've been exchanging loving glances ever since.

“When I used to caddie for him I’d watch it at (their rented home) and after a while he started watching with me and getting into it.”

They engaged in small talk; as often is the case in such situations, the subject wasn’t important.

“He asked me how the family was and I did the same. We just talked, you know,” Williams said.

“At some point in time, I just felt we had to break the ice."

As for Phil, all Stevie said is they are "all good."

Call me skeptical...

Tiger In '12: Major Wins Make For A "Great" Year

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For those wondering if Tiger changed his assessment of a "great" year last week to include one with no major wins, Doug Ferguson's notes column says you are correct.

And it was just a year ago that Woods made his case.

It was at The Barclays in 2012 that he was asked about three PGA Tour wins and whether he saw it as a good year or some other description.

''Well, I see it as absolutely it's a good year,'' Woods said a year ago. ''But I think winning a major puts it into a 'great year' category. I've said that countless times prior.''

Or he used to, anyway.