Finally, at least one sportswriter found the guts to call out Tiger Woods for his ridiculous campaign against illegal drivers. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Jon Heyman, columnist for Long Island's Newsday and his latest work entitled, "Woods' Poor Potshot Selection":
For one thing, Tiger Woods, sleuth, doesn't stack up to Tiger Woods, golfing god.Woods has no evidence the suspected player's club face was rigged, because no cork flew out of it. Still, Woods said he knows, said he can tell by the trajectory of the ball. He knows even though nobody else knows. He knows because he watched this poor sap hit a few balls on the practice range.
I hope that when Woods confronted the poor bloke, the fellow offered to put Tiger's head on a tee. Because that's what he deserved. Though I kind of doubt it. Because nobody says boo to Woods on the PGA Tour. Woods is not only a god on the Tour, he's the gravy train.
As the saying goes, read it all. You'll be glad you did.
UPDATE: Inferior equipment or not, Woods is leading the Western Open.
Tiger has many flaws, and his almost obsessive quest to sidestep controversy is probably one. I do not think his decision to take a stance here is based on any directive from Nike, or any sense of loyalty to them. I think he, like many many fans of golf, is very concerned about the negative impact technology is having on the game (my goodness, there is now even talk of taking Pebble Beach out of the US Open rotation because it is so “short”). Tiger declines to opine on controversial subjects that he deems out of his area of expertise (i.e., on the S.C. confederate flag of issue). I think we can all agree that golf is his area of expertise, and he must feel very strongly about his position to be willing to get the media in an uproar about it. As Notah Begay recently observed: “You hit one or one-and-a-half clubs less to a par 3 than the guy you’re playing with. Then on the next par 4 he drives it 10 yards past you. Something’s not right.”