The fate of golf would seem to lie in the hands of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf Association. Can we expect that they will protect and reverence the spirit of golf?
MAX BEHR
The PGA Tour's ShotLink folks have put together a dynamite package of year-end stats to pour over and inevitably I gravitated to the driving distance page. In it they share this statistical confirmation that core exercises really are the difference between today's Nicklaus' and Watson's and Nicklaus and Watson.
Really!
I know, the first round of the Chevron World Challenge may not normally be one of your top 5 "Must DVR" rounds of the year, but with weather forecasts calling for 50 m.p.h. Santa Ana winds this could be wild.
Jim Furyk explained in his pre-tournament press conference:
When you think about the weather that's coming in, what makes this golf course difficult is a lot of Jack Nicklaus's golf course designs are built to be played in the air. If you think of Muirfield in Ohio, one of my favorite golf courses, it's a golf course that if you're not bouncing the ball into a lot of greens, you're putting the ball up in the air and stopping on the greens. And it makes it very difficult in the wind. And it's the same with this golf course.
If the conditions are nice and the greens are soft, we can put the ball in the air and stop it and kind of maneuver around or over trouble, and with the winds kicking up and being I'm hearing 25 to 35 with gusts over 50 ‑‑ that's what I read this morning, gusts over 50, this place isn't ‑‑ it won't be playable. So I don't know if that's actually the weather report, but I read that on weather.com this morning. And it was worse last night when I checked. It was 25 to 40 and gusts over 60.
So supposed to start at midnight tonight and last till noon on Friday. So if we get weather like that, gusts over 50, the ball will not stay still on a green here. We have to put the ball in the air to play this golf course, so the wind, we're going to have to be very careful and hitting very solid shots to control the ball when you put it up in the air in a strong wind. I would expect scoring to be high, and I would expect the greens to be quite soft and quite slow.
I mean if you're going to get winds that are actually 35 miles an hour, I don't think you can cut the greens, to be honest with you. Or else it's not going to stay on the green. So it'll be interesting to see what the weather does and how everything plays out. It won't be any fun. I promise you that.
While Royal Melbourne was designed for the wind, I can confirm that Sherwood most definitely is not playable in high winds.
So, let me get this straight. The PGA Tour does not comment on disciplinary matters, which was reaffirmed yesterday in the Steve Williams matter. Today, the PGA Tour and European Tour Commissioners Tim Finchem and George O'Grady issue a statementsaying "We are aware he has apologised fully and we trust we will not hear such remarks again."
Iain Carter reports on the rest, which sounds like teachers scolding 5th graders:
Their statement added: "The International Federation of PGA Tours feels strongly there is no place for any form of racism in ours or any other sport.
"We consider the remarks of Steve Williams, as reported, entirely unacceptable in whatever context.
"We are aware he has apologised fully and we trust we will not hear such remarks again. Based on this, we consider the matter closed and we will have no further comment."
Doug Ferguson says Adam Scott was shown the statement after his 73 Sunday and is not concerned the story will linger.
The following week is the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, where Scott and Woods - or is that Williams and Woods? - could face each other in any of the four days of competition.
Scott tried to deflect speculation that he could be walking into a frenzy Down Under.
"Hopefully, it's just for my good play rather than anything else. I don't think there's a story going forward," he said, adding that "the matter has been put to bed and I've got nothing more to talk about it with anyone. So I'm moving on."
Geoff
Tim Rosaforte shares this from U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples:
"If that was Joe LaCava he wouldn't be caddying for me today," Couples said Saturday morning, heading to Harding Park for the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup.
LaCava is his former longtime caddie, now working for Woods. While noting he's never had a problem with Williams, Couples also added, "If (a caddie) has that kind of anger for a pretty good guy, I don't want him around me."
Scott Walker at Golf Channel suggests that the atmosphere in Shanghai and beyond may have led to a level of unacceptable comfort:
But Williams’ comments are only part of the issue. The fact that he felt comfortable enough to say such nonsense at that gathering will remind minorities of golf’s exclusive past, of proverbial smoke-filled rooms where decisions were made, and where many of us were absent. There is nothing wrong with having a private gathering where folks can have a good time at the end of a long year. There is something wrong when one of the attendees considered it the perfect time and setting to say what Williams did. Thankfully, enough people in that room decided what transpired there should not remain hidden. But it was a reminder that of the anxiety that comes with the question, “What do they say about us when we are not around?”
Farrell Evans wasn't too impressed with Stevie's apology.
This apology reminds me of some of the mea culpas delivered by southern whites and even some northerners over the years. One hot Sunday afternoon in Mississippi Delta comes to mind. A middle-aged black woman argues with a white convenience store owner after he called her teenage son a boy.
"I didn't mean nothing by it," the man said.
"If you didn't mean nothing by it then why did you say it?" said the woman.
The woman's question is one that Steve Williams should ponder for a while.
Jason Sobel says the decision to fire Williams is a "personal issue" between Williams and Adam Scott.
Already some media outlets are calling for Scott to immediately discontinue his looper’s employment. That’s a personal issue between them, but this news hits home as a personal issue between Williams and every single person who takes offense to this overture.
Intended or not, Williams’ comment contained inauspicious implications. If he wants to refer to a former boss and friend with a derogatory term, that’s well within his right. When he uses a racial adjective, it becomes a hurtful comment on multiple levels.
James Lawton says Stevie's rank stupidity is really shining through.
Plainly he has now crossed the line between natural-born arrogance and an untenable belief in his ability to behave as bizarrely as he chooses. Racism, as course as any known in the bad old days, is the killing charge. The cause is rather more mundane. It is the consequence of unchecked stupidity.
Does "off-the-record" confer immunity for every Tom, Dick or Harry to say whatever he likes about whom ever he likes in whatever offensive manner he so wishes? Of course not.
That Williams was guilty of revealing an ugly truth about himself, unwittingly or otherwise, is beyond doubt. So is the punishment he should have faced. He should have gone. From the Champions event in China. From his lucrative employment with the Australian golfer Adam Scott. From the sport of golf. For good.
That none of these things had happened by the evening after the night before speaks eloquently about the cravenness and cowardice of the self-regarding, self-perpetuating, self-enriching administrators who claim to have the best interests of golf at heart.
Garry Smits explains the jurisdiction the PGA Tour has here and feels they need to suspend Williams to prevent the Presidents Cup from being overshadowed by the Tiger-Stevie reunion.
Later this month, the Presidents Cup will be played in Australia for only the second time. Scott is on the International team. This is the PGA Tour's international match play event. Wouldn't it detract and distract from the event and what it means to Australian golf to have Williams walking the fairways every day?
If Scott won't take action, and is as clueless as he seems as to the implications of Williams' comments, the Tour might have to.
Steve Elling suggests that might already be in the works, but because of the tour's policy of not disclosing fines and suspensions, we don't know.
As ever, PGA Tour communications chief Ty Votaw on Saturday offered no illumination relating to possible pending disciplinary action: “We will have no comment publicly on this matter. The tour does have the ability to discipline caddies of its members.”
Later Saturday, Votaw followed up thusly, implying some action might be forthcoming: "By the way, the fact that we don't have a comment on this at this time, that does not mean we will not have one in the future. Just wanted to make that clarification." Scott shouldn't wait for the tour to do his dirty work for him.
Geoff
**Another from Pete McDaniel of GolfDigest.com:
Count me among the offended. Sorry, Stevie. Apology not accepted.
It's your right to hate Tiger for firing you. It's even your right to slap him around verbally if he allows it, although, I would probably be a little more gracious to the person who made me rich and secured my family beyond my wildest dreams. However, it is an egregious error to broadside your former boss with a racial slur under any circumstance even in jest. As I've written many times, a racial slur is only amusing to the person not on the butt end of it. They should not be tolerated, period.
What is most disappointing is that you have probably shared more congenial conversations with me over the years than with any other media type. I enjoyed the horseplay and needling. The word play, however, comes from an ugly place and is totally unacceptable.
And we do seem to have different takes on which version of a--hole was used (or was it ar--hole..inquiring minds want to know!).
When asked if he used the words "black a***hole" he initially denied using the racially motivated language: "I did not say those two words."
However, he refused to clarify exactly what he did say on stage at the event, attended by more than 100 top players, caddies and golfing officials.
"Things get taken out of context," he said.
Regarding the context, these comments from Greg Turner probably best sum things up.
However, former New Zealand No1 Greg Turner said he did not think Williams could survive the media backlash, particularly in the United States.
"I can't see this ending well. There's some things you can't get away with and this is one of them. I have been trying to think of a context that might have been acceptable but can't come up with anything. I think this is a pretty big one," he said.
Doug Ferguson, reporting from Shanghai where Adam Scott finished his round on a high note and then faced questions about the status of caddie Steve Williams following the loopers' controversial comments.
"Didn't distract me too badly in the end today," Scott said after a birdie-birdie-eagle finish for a 69, leaving him three shots behind Fredrik Jacobson going into the final round of the World Golf Championship.
"Look, anything with Tiger involved is a story," Scott said. "I value Steve's contribution to my game and to have him on the bag. While he's caddying, I hope he can caddie for me."
Lee Westwood wins an award for Best Excuse To Say Nothing In A Non-Supporting Role:
Westwood, Geoff Ogilvy and Ian Poulter were among those who walked away when the topic shifted to Williams and Woods.
"I've had an ear infection for two weeks and I couldn't hear a lot of what was going on," Westwood said sarcastically. "So it would be wrong for me to comment on anything."
Alex Miceli featured more post-round comments from Scott and Ernie Els.
“I don’t think it should be awkward for me,” Scott said of being between Williams and Woods. “I’m the guy stuck in the middle, but I don’t really have a gripe with either guy. So it’s for them to sort out between themselves.”
Which is the larger point. Williams still has not sorted out his anger issues with Woods, and they are bleeding into his current employment with Scott and potentially jeopardizing Scott’s career.
Ernie Els called it “an awkward situation” for Scott and Williams.
“Adam just wants to have the best caddie, and he just wants to concentrate on his game,” Els said. “He’s just come through a tough time with his game. It looks like he’s got that hunger back, and he’s got the best caddie in the world on his bag. I’d just like to see them blossom.”
Doug Ferguson, filing from Shanghai, tracks down Tiger Woods agent Mark Steinberg for comment on Steve Williams' racially provocative remarks.
“I was with Tiger last night when he heard the news,” Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports Management, told The Associated Press. “We got multiple calls from people who sounded like they were leaving the caddie party. Tiger obviously wasn’t there. He doesn’t know exactly what was said. But if multiple reports — which all seem to be accurate — are true, then it’s sad it’s come down to this.”
Ferguson also explains the event in question, reminds us that Williams got in trouble at a similar dinner when he called Phil Mickelson a prick, and shares this about the reaction to the Williams comment:
That line drew the biggest reaction at a party attended by several players, caddies, officials and some media. There was a mixture of laughter and shock, with some players turning to each other with eyes widened and jaws agape.
The provision of the party is that all comments are off the record, yet several caddies couldn’t stop talking about it long after it was over. Approached early the next morning at breakfast, Williams was stunned to learn that British tabloids had gone with the story.
“Why would they do that?” he said. “The whole thing was meant to be fun.”
Following his remarks at a dinner Friday night, Stevie Williams has issued this statement on his website:
"I apologize for comments I made last night at the Annual Caddy Awards dinner in Shanghai. Players and caddies look forward to this evening all year and the spirit is always joking and fun. I now realize how my comments could be construed as racist. However I assure you that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to Tiger and anyone else I have offended."
Steve Williams
The screen capture just in case it disappears:
Oliver Brown reports that Steve Williams, receiving a "tongue in cheek" award from his fellow bagmen for "celebration of the year," was asked on staged during a dinner at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai to explain his infamous celebration after Adam Scott’s win in the WGC Bridgestone.
He replied, in reference to Woods: “My aim was to shove it right up that black --------.”
The remark by Williams left the audience of players, caddies and sponsors aghast. While the occasion had been intended as a light-hearted celebration of the ‘caddie of the year’ award, Williams’ comment was uniformly seen as beyond the pale and escalated his bitter sniping at Woods to a new level.
Scott, the Australian world No 8 whose bag Williams took over after being sacked by Woods in July, was listening in the ground-floor room at the Le Meridien Sheshan hotel, alongside other top-10 players including Rory McIlroy.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Derek Lawrenson says:
When Tiger Woods' former caddie Steve Williams claimed all the credit for Adam Scott's victory in the Bridgestone Invitational in August he hurt nobody but himself. What he did with his racist remark at a caddies’ awards dinner caused immense damage to the entire sport.
Now we know what Graeme McDowell meant by this Tweet:
Naturally anyone who was there that just happened to have their camera phone running is more than welcome to share their video with us. After all, it may be the last time we ever see Stevie!
Golfweek's Sean Martin has the scoop from Sidney Wolf, the tournament’s general chairman of the opposite Doral week event. Unfortunately, Yani Tseng's reps are hinting that they'll say no thanks.
Wolf said he has yet to contact Tseng’s camp about a potential exemption. She is in her native Taiwan this week and was unavailable for comment. Tseng's adviser, Ernie Huang, said she would likely not compete against the men "in the near future."
"We appreciate that Puerto Rico has responded so soon, but she has more goals to accomplish, such as completing the Grand Slam and qualifying for the Hall of Fame," Huang told Golfweek. "To play on (the) PGA Tour now will be too much distraction for her."
Geoff
**Alan Shipnuck nominated Yani for SI's Sportsmen of the Year:
Yani Tseng doesn't tweet. She does not have a reality show or her own line of clothing or perfume. She doesn't threaten bodily harm on tournament officials or show up in the police blotter.
All she does is win with grace and dignity. With 11 victories this year, including two major championships, Tseng has become not only golf's most unstoppable force but also the world's most dominant female athlete. Along the way this 22-year old from Taiwan has grown into an ambassador of all that is right with sports, and an easy choice for Sportswoman of the Year.
Steve Elling analyzes and posts the top 30 events of 2011 based on appearances by world top 200 players and the PGA Tour stomps on the European Tour 7&6.
1. PGA Championship Tour: Both. Top 200: 124. Top 15: 15.
2. Players Championship Tour: PGA. Top 200: 114. Top 15: 13.
3. British Open Tour: Both. Top 200: 113. Top 15: 15.
4. The Barclays Tour: PGA. Top 200: 104. Top 15: 11.
5. Deutsche Bank Tour: PGA. Top 200: 94. Top 15: 12.
6. U.S. Open Tour: Both. Top 200: 91. Top 15: 14.
7. Arnold Palmer Invitational Tour: PGA. Top 200: 85. Top 15: 7.
8. Memorial Tournament Tour: PGA. Top 200: 84. Top 15: 8.
9. Masters Tour: Both. Top 200: 82. Top 15: 15.
9. Northern Trust/L.A. Tour: PGA. Top 200: 82. Top 15: 8.
