It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
Before the AP's breaking story revealing that Tiger was asleep while lying on the pavement after Elin purportedly rescued him from his Cadillac, I was prepared to declare that the coverage tide was turning with Thursday's Rachel Uchitel news conference cancellation.
But asleep? Snoring? Expect that and other audio tape revelations to reignite questions about the Florida Highway Patrol's investigation.
Reader Tim was watching the Golf Channel pre-game show for today's Chevron World Challenge and reports that Inga Hammond went back to Jesper Parnevik to follow up on yesterday's interview.
With a night to sleep on his comments, Parnevik was shown saying something to the effect of, "all the respect i had for him is gone." I presume they will air it again tonight on Golf Central.
GolfChannel.com posts his comments here.
Does he stand by what he said a day earlier? “Oh, no, it’s nothing I regret. I stand by everything. He lost all my respect. All the respect I had for the guy is gone.” Comments, now that there’s been time for the news to settle: “I was just a little shocked. Everybody was hoping it was rumors and everything was going to turn out all right. I was just a little disappointed with the situation. Elin is family to us, she lived with us for two years. On what he’s hearing as reaction from players: “I don’t know, I probably shouldn’t say.”
...Radaronline says Rachel Uchitel's press conference, as hosted by attorney Gloria Allred, has been canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances." According to Radar, money is now being offered Uchitel to prevent embarrassing details from emerging.
As noted last night, the suggestion that Tiger's "organization" may have set up and paid her way to Australia implied others were involved in coordinating this side of Tiger's life.
Now, I know you guys label it blackmail (I'd call it a gift for time served), but why didn't this happen with the other women before they went public?
Tod Leonard recently documented the surprising inability of the Century Club and PGA Tour to find a sponsor for the event formerly known as the Buick Invitational.
Since there is a very good chance Tiger Woods will make his next start at the "Century Club of San Diego Invitational," the sponsorship status of the event may tell us just how much or how little sponsors want to be a part of the Woods brand post-accident. After all we're talking about monster ratings for an event that already drew well and while tickets and schedules have been printed, we know the PGA Tour can move quickly to insert a sponsor last-minute, though we could be inside a window that makes it impossible to sign someone for the late January event.
And this is assuming a major corporation wants to be associated with Tiger Woods.
As for the future, Doug Ferguson addressed the idea of ratings and next year's television contract negotiations:
Neal Pilson, former CBS Sports president who runs his own consulting business, did not think it would affect the next deal.
"We're seeing this in the glare of the day, these incredible revelations," Pilson said. "At some point, he'll play golf and he'll move on. At some point, this will become more embarrassing to the media than Tiger."
TV ratings typically double when Woods is contention, and he has begun his season every year since 2006 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, which starts Jan. 28.
"Ratings will be good for golf. Aren't you going to be watching?" Pilson said. "The ratings for Tiger are going to be higher than they might be ordinarily. I don't think there will be any negative fallout for golf. This is a Tiger Woods story. He happens to be a golfer, but he's a worldwide personality."
Regular readers of this blog might be shocked to learn that I worship at the temple of Chili Palmer, the great 20th century philosopher who once said to Leo Devoe the dry cleaner, "Never say anything unless you have to."
I share this with in light of Tiger's statement today, which, contrary to Chili's belief, was necessary in some form. But after reading much of the media and fan reaction to the statement (negative), I offer this edited version.
I really have no idea why they issued this, who it is on behalf of, or how this accomplishes anything:
Tiger's statement speaks for itself. We offer our full support to Tiger and his family and will continue to honor and respect his request for privacy in this matter. We will have no further comment on Tiger's statement.
**A PGA Tour friend called to make a fair point: if the tour responded to reporters with a "no comment" they would be viewed as abandoning Tiger, creating a new and unfounded news story. I countered that posting the statement on the website was the mistake.
A new statement from Tiger:
I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.
Gawker reports US Weekly paid $150,000 for it. For the amount of damage this will do to Tiger's image, it does make you wonder if he turned down the opportunity to pay for this himself?
From USWeekly.com:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
