Pond Scrum: No ignoring Tiger in the room, and his ex … caddie
Ah, the old standards.
Last week was like going to a bar and hearing the house band break into rollicking old tunes by Zeppelin or Skynyrd, the critical golfing equivalent of standing in the back of the room and screaming .
For instance, the PGA Tour contested an event on a vintage course with a seemingly antiquated, old-school setup, much to the chagrin of players who didnt have a scythe or sickle among their 14 chosen implements. As a result, the gains of technology in the professional game are again a front-burner issue, and we dont mean the Burner model made by TaylorMade. Necessarily.
Moreover, Tiger Woods continued to contribute to his impressive body of reading he made his former hit man/caddie Steve Williams into a sympathetic figure.
All genders were represented too. The LPGA made a dunderheaded move that generated almost immediate ridicule and derision. You know the lyrics to that one already, right?
Gotta admit, for guys who get paid a passable wage to critique what transpires in the game, this was like comfort food for European Tour correspondent John Huggan and CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling.
Unlike the claustrophobic, tree-lined and rough-choked fairways last week at the Canadian Open, these boys always swing from the heels on these particular topics, which is like finding a trustworthy old putter that still works.
Mash away, fellas.
Before we wax poetic about this weekends winners and losers, a housecleaning item from last week begs for a whisk broom and mop. What happened with Steve Williams and Tiger Woods that would break up a marriage that was far more stable and successful than Woods and Elin? We thought they were soul mates.
Elling: Its a strange world. An editor said that the most-read story on our website by a large distance Thursday was a day-after blog item detailing the comments Williams gave a Kiwi TV station about his firing. More hits than the NFL, MLB, the NBA and SEC football media day. Behold the magic of the Woods scandal. People scream when you write about this guy, then they inhale every word of it. Throw in his ex-henchman and you have an intoxicating brew.
Huggan: This has been coming for a wee while. It wasnt commented on much, but the pair were barely communicating at the Players, when Tiger played nine holes then withdrew because of a boo-boo on his arm or leg, I forget which. Its so hard to keep track of his ailments these days.
Elling: Who knew this stuff was so important? I am awaiting word any day that the has hacked Stevies cellphone.
Huggan: Plus, who really cares? You or I could have carried Tiger to 13 major wins. Williams “prowess” is hugely overblown. He is, to all intents and purposes, nothing more than a glorified baggage handler.
Elling: They prefer the term urban sherpa.
Huggan: At the end of all this, he is just a caddie who was fired.
Steve Williams (right) caddied for Adam Scott at the U.S. Open, AT&T National and the British Open. (Getty Images)
Elling: So, what happened? Gleaning and cobbling from several places, it appears that Williams asked for permission to work for Scott at the U.S. Open, because Scott had “parted ways” with Tony Navarro. Thats player-speak for kicking the old bagman to the curb. Tiger gave his permission, then had second thoughts, but Williams had already agreed to work for Scott and insisted on finishing the gig. Williams then worked the following week for Scott and was fired. Not that I had spent more than 10 seconds thinking about it, but I had long believed that Williams was paid by virtue of an annual contract, with incentives added for wins and majors. Apparently that was not the case. If he wasnt working, he wasnt getting paid by Woods, so who can blame him for getting back out there? Woods hasnt played 18 holes or cashed a check since the Masters, which seems half a lifetime ago.
I get the sense that Steve will breathe a huge sigh of relief, if he hasnt already. Can you imagine working for anybody nicer than Adam Scott? I told a radio guy once that Adam Scott is such a nice kid, if my daughter brought him home to dinner, I would encourage her to put out for the guy.
Huggan: Speak for yourself. I spend most of my time trying to intimidate those adolescent dopes who arrive at the door asking for my daughter.
I d at the suggestion that Tiger felt “betrayed” by Stevie running off to caddie for another. Oh, the irony.
Elling: Sure, many of these guys are just valets with yardage books. But Williams helped read putts every now and then. Williams might have been a bully at his job, and I certainly never understood why he had to be an utter SOB to people in the game hed been around for years, but the guy has more personal integrity than most folks. I dont think he deserved to be canned in such a fashion, with no clarity from Woods as to the reasons. It makes Woods seem petty. Which, of course, he sometimes is.
Yeah, the betrayal part is hilarious. Who knew that Tiger lived on a one-way street? If Steve Williams was not being paid while Tiger sat, then I applaud him for seeking a gig elsewhere. Hes got a wife and kid, too.
Huggan: Speaking as someone who descri I would dispute your description of him and his so-called “integrity.” I saw very little evidence of that amidst all the bullying, cursing and self-importance.
I lived for the day when Stevie took on someone who was prepared to punch him on the nose. Oh how wonderful that would have been.
Elling: Integrity in the sense that he was upset at what Woods did with all those women, right under h he was adjudged guilty by association. Thats why there was a distance between the two.
Huggan: Are you telling me that Stevie was oblivious to what was going on? Do you still believe in Santa Claus? Stevie had to deny everything to save his marriage. Cant blame him for that, at least.
Elling: Like I said, I didnt appreciate the way Williams did his job. But you can bet your last pint of Guinness that Tigers actions ate at his gut. In fact, some of us thought there was a decent chance Steve would quit last year. Instead, he sabotaged the gig. I dont think Williams knew what Tiger was doing after hours, no.
Huggan: If Stevie was so offended by Tigers shenanigans, he would have quit long ago. You give him way too much credit.
Elling: The marriage is the key. Steves wife, Kirsty, and Elin were inseparable when at tournaments. It would have been a massive betrayal to lie to his own wife about Tigers actions. Tiger kept his secrets in a small circle. If 100 women can be characterized as small. In quitting, Williams felt he would have been forsaking Woods when he was down. Call it severely misplaced loyalty. It got him little more than stomach ulcers and a pink slip.
Huggan: As you say, who cares? Were only talking about a bag carrier. As Ive said before, you need only three things to be a good caddie: a strong back, an ability to count and a personality compatible with the guy you are working for. Anything else is a bonus.
Elling: Dont ask me to venture a guess as to who next gets the looping gig. Dont know. Dont care. Woods will either show up next week at Firestone or we might not see him the rest of the year. Firestone precedes the seasons final major, and if he doesnt make the cut at one of them, he wont be eligible to play in the four FedEx Cup events. Hes too far down the points list. Even if he wants to play, he cant, at least, not in the States. Hes not a Fall Series kinda guy, either. By the way, Woods today fell out of the world top 20. How the mighty have fallen, indeed.
Who knew that Adam Scott was such a homewrecker?
A French company that sells water just bought the riparian rights to what has already been anointed the “fifth major” on the LPGA. Fellas, this is like Christmas coming early. Riff away.
Elling: Id call it a “transparent” money grab, but you would just think that was an Evian joke. That doesnt mean its an unfair characterization. How long before the LPGA puts a major in Asia up for sale? I set the over/under at 2015.
Huggan: Indeed, this is just another nail in the coffin containing the LPGAs credibility. Majors evolve through history; they are not created by committee. And five is such an odd number. Cant we go back to the days when the four were sponsored by Burt Reynolds old girlfriend, a Japanese car manufacturer, a breakfast cereal and … I forget the other one. Which just about sums it all up really.
Elling: I suppose it was the cheeky audacity that bugged me the most. See all the smiling faces in front of the room, the commissioner and the CEO types from the title company, all beaming because they had just negotiated the terms of becoming a major. Tours dont decide majors, with contracts and TV rights fees. Players and fans decide. Nice credibility.
Huggan: A major in Asia would have made more sense. As you say, this is all about short-term money. Which is just so o but at least they have some gravitas.
Elling: I believe the other major you alluded to was sponsored by a Canadian cigarette company.
Huggan: There you go. I always forget that one.
Elling: What, you cant buy gravitas? In France, you can buy anything. Oh, I am going to hear about that one. I went all Bubba Watson for a moment.
Huggan: Mon Dieu.
Elling: Through back channels, a story continues to circulate about the shaky future status of the LPGAs first major, the Kraft Nabisco. If that sponsor bails, they are back to four majors, although as you have noted, it has been around since Dinah Shores days as a TV talk-show host and has always found a sponsor.
Sean OHair, a player seemingly on his way to the elite level before hitting the skids this season, almost broke down crying after his win Sunday at the Canadian Open. What gives?
Elling: Where to begin? If you had four kids of preschool age before turning 30, youd be looking at a nervous breakdown, too. Those were tears of relief. He buys Pampers by the truckload.
Huggan: Did someone kick him where it hurts?
Elling: The game surely did. Its been a rocky year for OHair, who certainly has the tools to occasionally play with the big boys on some of the games biggest stages. Frustrated by his putting, which has always been below average, he continues to tinker with his game. A few months back, he fired caddie Paul Tesori, which was a mistake. He fired swing coach Sean Foley, one of his best friends. He went back to his swing coach from a decade earlier. He got involved in a verbal fight with Rory Sabbatini on the course in New Orleans. His brain had turned to mush. Sometimes, guys listen to too many things. OHair said hes now trying to hit golf shots, not make golf swings.
H won after leaving young Foley in the dust. Start of a trend, perhaps? Yes, he went from being the next big thing to just another small footnote. Nice to see him back, though. I like his game.
Elling: OHair at his best hits the ball as crisply as any American player. His putting is always going to be an issue, but theres no reason why he cant win a tournament each season, which hes already accomplished in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Huggan: Yes, OHair is one of those people it is easy to root for.
Elling: The tour needs solid guys like OHair. Four wins from an American still under age 30? Only Dustin Johnson can make the same claim. That stat alone ought to speak volumes about why OHairs win was important. Hed made seven cuts in 17 starts before last week. Small wonder he wanted to cry. Tim Finchem probably had a lump in his throat too. The tour needs guys who win consistently, established stars. With, preferably, an established No. 1 as well. But I digress.
Huggan: Steady. Im not sure Sean is a star in the making. But hes a pretty good player who, as you say, will win once or twice a year on the PGA Tour. Nothing wrong with that. But hes no star.
Elling: Hes easy to like, especially given his personal particulars. That kid had no childhood. If readers are missing the particulars of our point, Google , Sean and Marc OHair, then allow yourself 30 minutes to become enraged. John, a guy who wins once each year is a star these days. Witness: Jim Furyk, future Hall of Famer.
Huggan: That OHair has made such a success of his professional and personal life is to his huge credit. As I said, hes easy to root for. … This all depends on your definition of “star.” I like Jim a lot, but he was never more than “really good” never “great.”
Elling: Were the same age and weve both been spoiled. The era of Seve, Faldo, Jack, Lee and Watson is over. Lower your standards, mate. Embrace the new Hall of Fame standard. In this era, 20 U.S. wins is nigh on impossible.
Huggan: I wont be embracing the Hall of Fame any time soon. Jumbo Ozaki? Give me a break. Besides, wasnt the golf course the big story at the Canadian Open?
Nice transition. Forget the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Last week, the Canadian Open was apparently set up by the retirees from the U.S. Golf Association. The rough was so penal, players had no chance to reach the green if they drove in the rough. Why the retro setup? Arent we past all that?
Huggan: I despair of those courses where excessive rough is used as disguising the fact that the golf ball flies way too far when struck by a big-headed driver in the hands of a tour professional. If sanity were to prevail in equipment, there would be no need for any rough madness. Courses could be left alone, to play the way the designer intended rather than in the bastardized fashion we saw in Canada. Can you imagine the money that has been wasted over the last 15 years on lengthening, “strengthening” and screwing up perfectly good courses? What a joke. And all because golfs governing bodies are scared to take on the equipment companies and their big, bad lawyers.
Remember, its the easi much harder to make it interesting. When you completely eliminate the most interesting and exciting aspect of the game -– the risky recovery shot -– the result is inevitably tedious. Can you imagine how long it would have taken the members to play at Shaughnessy this past week? This sort of thing is killing the game. So the sooner we have bifurcation, different rules for pros and amateurs, the better. It wont hurt golf to go down that route. The pros play a different game from you and I, anyway. One last thing. Did you watch the players trying to chip from that long grass they harvested in Vancouver? It was a complete lottery -– hit and hope, with skill, touch and feel all but eliminated. I mean, what is the point of that?
Elling: The Canadians held their national open on a wonderful, 51-year-old course that was 7,100 yards long. The rough was nearly as tall as the trees. Insanity. What are they going to do when the U.S. Open is held at Merion, which isnt much longer?
Elling: Irony defined: Half the blue-blood USGA executive committee members are lawyers. Where is Walter Driver when you need him?
Huggan: Ive already spoken to USGA director Mike Davis regarding Merion, the U.S. Open site for 2013. He insists all will be OK. But unless the ball/clubs are fixed, they are going to have to trick the place up to avoid scores in the high 50s.
Elling: There was a hole on the back nine in Canada where not a single player made a birdie after driving in the rough. As our man Mickelson likes to say, the recovery shot is the best in golf. It allows for options and creativity. There was none of that last week.
Huggan: Wash your mouth out. Driver was a wedge when it came to golfing savvy.
Elling: As for Merion, what if it rains? You know, like at, say, oh, maybe, Congressional?
Huggan: There are various possibilities for Merion. None of them good.
Elling: Yeah, but Driver was an iron-handed, nut-crunching SOB, which is exactly what I want as a first-chair litigant when taking on Wally Uihleins or John Solheims legal minions. Sorry, fellas.
Huggan: I repeat, Driver was/is a nasty piece of work, one who does the image of the greatest game no good at all.
Elling: Yeah, but hacking wedges out of foot-high rough is good for the games image? Pick your poison, pal. Canadian Open redux from Paul Goydos: “My argument there would be if you give me a decent lie, I might try to hook it around a tree and I might make six, I might make seven, or I might make three,” he said. “The way they have it now, Im going to make four or five. Everyones doing the same thing. Theres no particular skill in chipping it sideways.”
Huggan: As I said above, the only solution to the madness is bifurcation. The pros should be playing with a ball that flies maybe 50 yards shorter than those we use. Jeez, Ive been writing this stuff for years. Is no one listening? The governing bodies created this mess by doing nothing. They should fix it by doing something.
Elling: You are correct. We already have bifurcation, anyway. Pros use different irons than we ams. Oh, people are listening, but then they hustle out to buy the latest driver so they can “hit it Bubba long.”
Huggan: The biggest irony is that today the pros and the ams have never been so far apart in terms of the games each plays. By letting equipment run free, the USGA and R&A have created the very thing they say they are against.
For the second time in a month, an amateur player has won on the Nationwide Tour, and a top college standout at that. Is there a logical explanation for this?
Elling: Not only did a college kid win, he outdueled another collegian to win with a birdie on the 72nd hole. So, I guess the U.S. college system is breeding success stories all of a sudden, right? Ten minutes ago, it was at the crux of the American drought in the majors.
Huggan: There is certainly no logic to what the two college amateurs said Sunday night: “The top 20-30 guys in college are better than the top 20-30 on the PGA Tour.” Clearly these guys are going to the wrong classes. What are they taking, “Delusional Thinking 101?” But hang on there. Winning at Nationwide level does not a great career make. These guys have a long way to go if they are not to be just another tour pro making $1 million a year for finishing T9 a lot.
Elling: Yeah, those comments are an insult, really, to everybody who plays for a paycheck. Both of those players, NCAA standouts Harris English and John Peterson, will be eating those words with mustard. Very soon.
Three years ago a talented Canadian kid from N.C. State named Matt Hill won the Nicklaus Award after slaughtering everyone in college, winning more tournaments than English and Peterson combined. He was in the Canadian Open field and hasnt exactly bolted to the fore of the national consciousness.
Huggan: Yes, I can imagine the reaction they will get next time out. Heavens, we are suddenly agreeing about something. I must lie down. Id like to have seen either of those college hotshots trying to beat Alex Noren in the Sweden Masters last week. Now that was playing.
Elling: They should have fun writing letters to PGA Tour officials as they seek sponsor exemptions. “My name is Harris English. I shot 14 under, then shot my mouth off. Can I have a spot in your tournament, pretty please?” Then, I bet their PGA Tour pairing partners will really love their company.
Why is this happening now? Only once in history before this year had an amateur won a Nationwide event. This year its happened twice, which bolsters what a couple of caddies asserted to me earlier in the year. The talent that graduated from the Nationwide to the big tour last year was significant -– players such as Keegan Bradley, Jhonny Vegas and Brendan Steele and Chris Kirk have already won this year on the PGA Tour.
Huggan: Besides, isnt the Nationwide basically country club golf from the back tees?
Elling: Thats exactly what it is. With very low scores.
Huggan: Exactly. Now why might that be? Oh yes, the ball goes too far. Id love to see these young pups out there in a decent wind with persimmon woods and balata balls. Then wed find out who can really play.
Elling: I sense a theme emerging. Even Tigers “equipment” was too hot for his own good.
I have a 1970s-era Ping persimmon driver in the attic. For giggles, I might have to take it to the range. If I can find it. And it isnt rusty.
Huggan: The root of all golfing evil at professional level is the ball and those great hulking metal woods that have rendered driving a forgotten art. Try it. I bet your good shots are almost the same. And your bad ones are horrendous.
Do you hit good shots?
Elling: Judging by the old wear pattern on the wooden clubface, not very often. Ah, all this talk of the good old days, when Nicklaus hit an 8-iron from 150 yards and a skinny kid like me could cover the same distance with a 7-iron. Such a disconnect now between the fans and professionals. An 8-iron from 195? Give me a break.
That was a while ago, obviously. Nicklaus was a stud. I was still skinny. Heck, Jack was still skinny.
Huggan: All evidence of the madness that makes insignificant amateurs think they can really play, when they really cant.
Elling: Except on the Nationwide.
