Capelle On Golf

Tigermania swept the land long ago, sweeping up establishment golf writers in its path as they became infected with the mania and editorial directives that ordered them to praise all things Woods.

And so journalists across the land pandered to Woods 24/7, so much so that they began to believe in the fantasy that Mr. Woods was Mr. Wonderful in all aspects of life. So much for a balanced perspective.

Now certain members of the Woods fan club have decided that enough is enough. When his behavior is questionable, they are going to call him out on it.

Take Jason Sobel at ESPN.com, a Tiger booster if ever there was one. He spoke out against Tiger’s $3 million appearance fee for the Australian Masters.

I hate appearance fees. Despise ‘em. One of the things that makes golf unique as opposed to other professional sports is that its competitors make only what they earn.
This wouldn’t be well received in better financial times, but considering the Aussie economy is in roughly the same dire straits as the rest of the world, it’s become one of the country’s biggest hot-button issues.

In the weekly roundtable at golf.com, several panelists were negative on Tiger’s bounty.

Jim Gorant: If things get worse over there, it would be interesting if Tiger showed up and got booed or picketed by protestors. Interesting side note on Tiger’s motivation: the event is run by IMG.
Thomas Friedman: Tough call when it’s taxpayer money. If I were Down Under and economically down under, I’d vote no.
Allan Shipnuck: My favorite part of the blowback was Tiger’s agent, Mark Steinberg, saying that his famous client was basically going because he really, really wanted to play Kingston Heath. I’ve been there, and it is indeed a great course, but I don’t think that’s why Tiger is getting on the plane.
I’m guessing in a year or so Tiger will announce a design project in Australia, and his motivations for this trip will be clearer.
Gary Van Sickle: Tiger’s trip Down Under should be a lesson to those trying to recruit Tiger Pay him and he’ll play.

Switching gears to the subject of who is the greatest of all time, Rick Reilly at ESPN told the story of Woods’ victory at Augusta in 1997 for Sports Illustrated. He gushed about Tiger throughout it to the point where you’d have sworn he already was the Best Ever. Now, a dozen years and 13 majors later, Reilly questions whether Tiger will become the best!

Covering him since college, I never thought it’d be anything but Tiger’s Scorched Earth Tour, steamroller over earthworm, straight to Greatest Golfer Ever. But now, for the first time, there’s just a smidgen of a hint of a droplet of a doubt.

That’s right. He’s come to his senses and realized that Tiger still has work to do, unlike the majority of mainstream writers who have conceded the crown to Tiger. And Nicklaus agrees:  “You guys are all so willing to just hand it to Tiger: Greatest Player Ever, like it’s over already. And he’ll probably wind up as that. But he has to do it first, doesn’t he?”

Perhaps we’re entering into a new era where golf’s mainstream journalists are recommitting to journalistic integrity. Or maybe, in the absence of Woods authored Ws they are simply working with what they’ve got. We’ll know for sure when Woods starts dominating again.

Will the “journalists” retain a fair and balanced perspective, or will they fall back into line, swept up again by the return of Tigermania? Based on his long history of controversial decisions, it’s safe to say that Woods will continue to offer up juicy morsels. Whether they join the feast or stick to the Woods is God party line is another story.