Stevie Williams vs. Tiger Woods: Advantage Williams

((ht: cbssports.com))

Who would have thought that the winner of a PGA Tour golf tournament would get overshadowed by his caddie. And yet that is exactly what happened today at the Bridgestone Invitational at the Firestone Country Club.

Adam Scott won the tournament, but was a secondary story.

That's because his caddie, Steve Williams, up until two weeks ago, was Tiger Woods caddie. There's apparently a conflict of stories as to how those two parted ways, but in a bit of a karmic confluence, Williams new boss won the tourney, his old boss was a non-factor.

And in lieu of all that, our pals at CBS Sports interviewed Mr. Williams, who used the medium to take a few not-so-veiled shots at his former employer. He told the world, "It's the greatest week of my life caddying and I sincerely mean that."

Read the story from CBSSports RIGHT HERE

We really aren't sure who root for in this drama. Both Tiger and Williams kind of come off as a pair of douchebags in our opinion. Yes, we laugh a bit at the Karma of Williams being on the winning bag and we get that he was hurt by his former friend dumping him hard. But dude, be a professional. Let it go.

There's no reason to take a public shot.

Nobody that we are aware of has gotten a comment from Woods and we would be mildly surprised if he was willing to give one. And we can respect him because of that. But it also reeks of him being a "High Priced" prima donna. We can't blame Williams for wanting more work to keep getting paid.

But we kind of equate this to piling on. Everyone is dumping on Woods and we feel sorry for him for that. But if he was as shitty to Williams and Williams says than yeah, it really was karma running full circle.

The interview from CBSSports.com:

Rumors of Tiger Woods press conference: True or False?--Updated

Tiger Woods

Updated from the Golf Channel website at 9:54 a.m--Agent Mark Steinberg will sit down and talk to Kelly Tilgham at 11 a.m, not Tiger as was reported in USA Today, Yahoo and other assorted legitimate media outlets. No Tiger, no interest.

All we can do is laugh. In the quest to have a "Tiger" story, they either made something up or read something the wrong way. That folks, is why we raised the question.

Original Story----------

This has been an interesting story to watch develop over the course of Monday morning. Multiple outlets are reporting that Tiger Woods is either "Having an 11 a.m Press Conference" or "Doing an 11 a.m Live Interview" with the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilgham.

Everyone from USA Today to YahooSports is saying this is going to happen.

However....

Tiger's agent Mark Steinberg told Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press this morning "There's an erroneous report that he's making an announcement, but he's not".


If you go to the Golf Channel website. Nothing. No mention of this what so ever.

So the questions here are this. One, why is this being reported? And what actually is going on?

Woods has already said he's not playing in this week's British Open. There are tons of rumors he may sit out the rest of the season to have surgery and get healthy. No big revelation there. The season is almost over, why drag it out?

Yes, his name has been brought up in the court case against steroid doctor Anthony Galea. No real news there, we knew that. Tiger has  denied doing anything wrong and the feds haven't indicated anything of the sort

Nobody seems to know where the "Press Conference" rumor started. Maybe he will be on Golf Central with Tilgham this morning. But if you look at their programming guide, it says they'll be running video of the weekends Champions Tour event at 11 a.m.

We'll keep an eye out in case Steinberg is lying (which is possible), but we think it is very odd that so many legitimate outlets would be reporting on this if there wasn't something to it.

BREAKING Tiger Woods Will Not Play In The U.S. Open

Tiger Woods has made it official, he will not play in the U.S. Open.

"Not playing in US Open. Very disappointed. Short-term frustration for long-term gain." Woods tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

It's the first time Tiger has missed the U.S. Open as a pro. 1993 was the last U.S. Open that didn't include Tiger Woods.

Tiger has been battling knee and achilles issues all year long. Remember Woods had to withdraw from the Players Championship last month after nine holes because of injury.

This will probably cost NBC some ratings points with golf's biggest draw sitting this major championship out.

You have to wonder if Tiger Woods will compete in any majors this summer or just shut it down. The HQ never thought it would mention Eric Gagne, Brady Anderson, and Eldrick in the same sentence.

Tiger Goes 9, Sawgrass Scores TKO

((HT: PGA.com))

After lingering injuries didn't seem to heal properly over the last few weeks in his knee and Achilles, Tiger Woods went 9 holes in the first round of The Players.

He turned in his scorecard to one of his playing partners and he's out the door...
Here's his presser...


So much for that idea...
Normally, Tiger would play Quail Hollow. He didn't and he only got in 18 holes of warm-up at Sawgrass this week getting ready for the tournament.

He's now back on the shelf...

Bubba Watson Thinks Tiger's "Going The Wrong Way"

((HT: News14Carolina/ESPN))

Bubba Watson can absolutely destroy a golf ball, and we mean plant it into the other county on demand. He doesn't have a swing coach, and he thinks he'd have to quit if he ever got one.

Watson is at Quail Hollow this week... Tiger isn't since he's injured...

Bubba digs Tiger, and wants the old Tiger back...

Route 66 Wins In CSRA Golf...

((HT: WJBF-TV))

We commend, first and foremost, J-Hart and Big Daddy Kane for their long week and a half of covering golf in the CSRA for us...

We also commend Charl Schwartzel for going birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie to wrap up the newest piece of blazer-wear in his closet...

We recommend watching below...

Augusta Golf Coverage: Sunday's Fourth Round

((HT: Augusta National Golf Club/CBS Sports/youtube))

The larger story in the diamond anniversary of the tournament in the CSRA...???

1) The fact that, on the 50th anniversary of Gary Player's win, getting one from Charl Schwartzel...

2) The fact that Tiger Woods may be back...
Just evidence his postgame with Bill Macatee...


or, 3) Rory McIlroy's triple-bogey-double to start the back 9 on his way to an 80...


All good...
More coverage from the CSRA when it comes available...

Your US Golf Championship Flashback

The HQ isn't sure we can mention the tournament, starting today at Pebble Beach, by name without drawing the ire of the USGA...

So, in that vein, here's a flashback from two years ago on the coolest tourney in recent memory. The one that took 91 holes to complete with Rocco Mediate and some guy named Tiger...

First, the comeback in Round Three...
((HT: NBC/USGA/Monty8))


Then, the playoff in the playoff...
((HT: NBC/USGA/A-Channel/tightlaces))

Galea Charged By The Feds

((HT: WGRZ-TV Buffalo- Kompos))

How's this for a Tuesday laundry list...???

Doctor Anthony Galea is now accused of making false statements to federal officials, smuggling, unlawful distribution of human growth hormone (HGH), introducing an unapproved drug (actovegin) into interstate commerce, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A criminal complaint against Dr. Galea was filed on Tuesday by U.S. Attorney William Hochul of Buffalo.

In a news release, Hochul claims an affidavit supports the complaint that Dr. Galea "repeatedly entered the United States from 2007 to September 2009 in order to treat numerous professional athletes in the country. The athletes were said to be from Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the Professional Golfers' Association. It is alleged that Dr. Galea's billings to three athletes from the NFL alone amounted to approximately $200,000."

Here's the copy of the criminal complaint against Galea...

Here's the investigation from 2 On Your Side...

It's a Bulging What...???

((HT: Brooks/Geoff))

No lie...
The HQ was having this discussion between offices Sunday night...
There was a concern with a wayward anchor's brain on the possibility of mislabeling the Tiger Woods injury...

The scenario was perfect... ESPN had Steve Levy and John Anderson anchoring the Sunday night SportsCenter, which reminded the HQ of this...
((HT: Firebird7478))


Anderson did the highlights, so we were denied there...
But the Golf Channel's Win McMurry beat them both to it, anyway...


So, was it the thought that counts...???

Tiger Finds Quail Hollow, Joslyn James In Pursuit...

((HT: MyFoxCharlotte))

Tiger Woods matched the worst nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career and wound up with a 7-over-par 79 to miss a cut for only the sixth time in his 14-year career at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte.

He had three-putt bogeys on consecutive holes, and he had a four-putt double bogey from just over 30 feet on his 15th hole on Friday.

"It is what it is," Woods said when asked if rust or mechanics were the culprit. "Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough."

In true form, Josslyn James claimed she wasn't following Tiger around to every city he has a tour stop, but that didn't stop her and our perpetuation of the process.

Here's her stop at FoxCharlotte and Morgan Fogarty's quest to find out whether or not James is following Tiger around...
Joslyn denies it...

Hello Friends, Jim Nantz's Take On Tiger At The Masters.

Remember the lip service Tiger Woods gave on be more respectful of the game of golf? That went out the window when Tiger let loose of a few profanities into a live microphone after hooking his tee shot on the 6th hole.

Well CBS lead announcer for the Masters Jim Nantz gave his opinion Monday on Mike Francesa's show on WFAN Radio in New York.

Nantz said on Tiger, "If I said what he said on the air, I would be fired. I read in the USA Today and it was called ‘mild language.' Someone on my broadcast dismissed it as him having a camera in his face. Well, guess what? Phil Mickelson had a camera in his face all week and did you even hear him come close to approaching that? He didn't hit every shot the way he wanted. Have you ever heard Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus use that kind of language? What are the parameters between what's right or wrong?"

You can hear the entire interview right here. Thanks WFAN Radio.

Photo Courtesy: CBS

Looks like Tiger will be in the US Open

For those who are interested in such things. Reports out of the Monterey area are saying that everyone's favorite golfing punchline is aiming towards playing at the U.S Open in June. He has submitted the required entry form which all players who don't have to qualify must do in order to be able to play at Pebble Beach.

The story from the Monterey County Herald RIGHT HERE

As most of you already know, Woods announced after his 2010 Masters appearance that he was not sure of when he would return to Tournament golf. We now have an idea when that will be. There is no way to be sure which if any tournaments he plays before Golf's second major begins June 17th, that we will have to stay tuned for.

((Tiger Woods//Courtesy: al.com))

We understand that Woods pulled nothing short of an amazing 4 days of golf at Augusta, there are precious few people in the world who could take 5 months off from the game and endure the PR beating that he took then emerge to finish 4th in a major event.

While we suspect that there will be a certain amount of hoopla based on his appearance at the Open, we highly doubt that it will garner the same scrutiny that he got at Augusta. Again, the Open is a Golfing Major, so there will be less access for the tabloid media and others to potentially grill him. We have some time, so we will wait and see how this plays out.

In the meantime, enjoy one of the countless parody's of Tiger's newest commercial...only this one has audio of the Christian Bale movie rant from a couple of years ago. *****WARNING*****NSFW***** (Bad language)

**********(Not Safe for Work)************************

Tiger Week is over: Network Golf Coverage is HORRIBLE!@$#$%

Was anyone else as tired as I was of hearing non-stop Tiger Woods updates for the past week? I mean...yeah, I get that he was the "Big Story" leading up to the Masters and that him speaking to the Golfing/Sports Media on Masters monday was a big deal. And it was an interesting listen.

Sure, we get the curiosity factor but I really believe they covered him ad naseum because they thought a fan or tabloid clown would do something stupid. Nope, wasn't going to happen, not at Augusta National. Zero chance.

((Phil and Amy Mickelson//Courtesy: AP))

After that...he's as important as any other golfer out there. But if you get things like Sports texts from a certain 4-letter network (ESPN) or watched any of CBS's coverage, 99.9% of the week, there were no other golfers either on the course or worthy of mentioning.

Heck, my 4-Letter sports texts on Sunday...the final round, almost the entire day "Tiger Woods is a 9-under par. Tiger Woods bogeyed the 9th hole". Not a mention of who was leading. Not a mention of Lee Westwood or the guy who was the best golfer out there Phil Mickelson. Not a mention of "His" story which was a whole lot more interesting, no...we got all Tiger all the time.

Is there anyone...at either network that can explain why?

Mind you the coverage wasn't the over-hyped, over-blown discussions of his transgressions. No, neither network wanted to piss off the Lords of Augusta, so they kept it vague...and brief. Rather they endlessly slobbered over his golf game.

Did he play well? Yeah, not bad for someone who hadn't competed in 5 months. But he didn't win. He wasn't the best golfer on the course.

It was comical on Saturday reading on the Twitter feed and on various websites the "Stunned Criticism" that came with Woods uttering "Tiger Woods, you suck. Goddamit Tiger" after a bad shot. Please enlightened fools, SHUT UP. If that is such an egregious transgression then nobody should be allowed to play golf. Every one of us have said far, far worse when we hit a bad shot on a golf course. He who lives in Glass Houses...remember that quote? Think about it.

No, the best story of the week was Tiger's chief competition. Phil Mickelson was the epitome of class, the quiet and humble one, the actual "Fan Favorite". He didn't do much other than what he does best, play golf. All the while knowing that his wife and mother in law both were battling breast cancer.

Eventually (the back 9 on Sunday), CBS finally realized that there was an actual good story happening...and it wasn't going to involve Woods.

How cool of a moment was it to see Mickelson's wife, looking as though she was struggling to be there, trying to stay composed. To see his reaction to seeing her before going into the scoring trailer: Priceless.

That folks is why you cover events. That is why you tell stories. That is why despite there being a Tiger in the crowd you tell the best story. Tiger Woods at no time this weekend was the best story. Sorry CBS, nay 4-Letter Word (ESPN), you should both be ashamed of your coverage this past week.

Yeah, it was overkill, in the extreme. Does it mean you should have ignored Tiger? No. Should you have shown all 18 holes of him at the expense of the other golfers....absolutely not.

Everything that needed to be said about Woods had been said and said more times than any viewer can count. Since you weren't going anywhere near the scandal, then why follow him all the time? Unless he is the leader, he is a sidebar, not the main story. You did the viewers and fans a complete and utter dis-service with your over-hyped under-performing coverage and for that you should be ashamed.

Unfortunately, this was the only video that I could find of Mickelson winning outside of the 4-letter. So try and watch and enjoy

SNL's Coverage of the Tournament In Augusta

See what happens when you bring in alums who are actually funny...???

Enjoy...
((HT: NBC/Broadway Video))

If You Had "Round 3" As Your First Tiger Curse...

You're right...

And so was Verne Lundquist...
((HT: CBS/Augusta National/Deadspin/taylorjonez))


The HQ wonders what happened to the audio operator after that made air...
Jus' axin'...

Perpetuation...Joslyn James makes the rounds

Ok. We were a little unsure of whether to do anything or not with this story. While we realize the Tiger Woods issue story is a big deal (though not the biggest story in NEWS), we have been somewhat restrained in our coverage of it. We have reported on it and mentioned it. But it hasn't dominated what we do.

Yes, we have come out, to the risk of our blogging credibility and said that enough is enough, the stories are out there, he's apologized and let's move on. However, the traditional media it appears is not of the same accord.

With that being said, Joslyn James...porn star and alleged Tiger mistress who claims that he made her pregnant...twice is appearing in Atlanta this week. Appropriately, she is headlining this week at the Pink Pony strip club.

She is also making the TV Rounds. This morning...in honor of the official start of the Masters golf tournament, she showed up on the FOX 5 (WAGA) in Atlanta Morning show. She wants an apology from Tiger. And quite frankly, it isn't everyday that someone with James' background actually gets to be on local TV.

Here is the video of the interview. Thanks FOSG Karen Graham and WAGA-TV:

The New Nike-Tiger Ad

Powerful stuff...

((HT: NikeGolf/Weiden+Kennedy))


Wonder if Tiger has learned anything...???
He will have to answer to his father...

Augusta Wednesday: Payne Sends Tiger A Message

The really famous and prestigious golf course in Augusta, Georgia has a hierarchy that does not suffer fools lightly.

Tiger Woods is now, offically, not an exception...

Even the world's greatest player was at the end of a stern tongue-lashing by Chairman Billy Payne during his yearly address to the media.

There is a standard in the CSRA and on that course specifically...
FOSG Buck Lanford was present for the reminder...
((HT: MyFoxAtlanta))

Augusta Tuesday: The Pairings

((HT: WAGA-TV))

Okay... one of the biggest questions... almost THE biggest question... is always who gets paired with whom for the first two rounds of the tournament in Augusta that starts on Thursday.

You're always looking for guys with briefcases that are handcuffed to wrists or something of that nature... matching suits, dark sunglasses...

Real "cloak and dagger" stuff...

FOSG Buck Lanford has the answers from Augusta on one pairing in particular...
And the answer has some really cool symmetry for golf fans...
((HT: MyFoxAtlanta))