Golf forum

Following on from the recent rant about the crowds at the US Open I just need to get something off my chest.

Firstly I need to start by saying yes Tiger Woods is truly a great golfer and potentially the best ever (this may spark additional comments but does he really need to be discussed in every bit of commendatory and every interview ?

After the round on Saturday Lee Westwood was interviewed by Sky Sports and the 2nd question was in reference to Tiger which seemed to notably annoy Lee and made for a very short and stinted interview.  Robert Karlson was also interviewed and again the topic of conversation turned to how Tiger was going and would he win.

Okay the other golfers are trying to compete with Tiger to win the titles but we don't need continual 'Tigermania' there are 100s of other fantastic golfers on the tours who we can also learn from and may have an interest in not just Tiger

I think it's great to be in an era to be able to watch Tiger and watch him rewrite the record books but come on there are other golfers out there and other news stories and interview to be heard. 

Sorry about the rant, it may be sparked by the fact Lee Westwood is a Forest fan and Notts lad not to far from where I live, so maybe I may be slightly bias   Better luck next time Lee.

Darren. 

I agree with you Darren, certainly when interviewing other players they should only really be asked about their own games rather than rubbing Tiger into them!

Was a great comp to watch, a lot of it down to Tiger but like you say, soooo many other excellent players as well.

I was totally amazed by how many of them were consistently missing fairways (seemed more than normal) but then one of the BIGGEST differences between them and us was totally displayed by their amazing ability to get out of trouble with their 2nd shots - booming irons out of rough to greens still well over 200 yards away.

Tiger was best at that as well though....

Great rant Darren! It must be incredibly frustrating for the other pro's to be constantly asked about him over their own game. If only one of them had the guts to speak up and ask interviewers to stop asking them about him and its not respectful

I was just sick of that nub Harmon constantly saying "that's why he's Tiger Woods", and "he's awesome because he is Tiger Woods"!! I mean come on man, Harmon stopped being his coach years ago, yet it seems he is still on retainer to repeat stuff like this on live TV over and over again. And people knock Setanta saying it's crap. Well, I'll have the Golf Channel commentators any day of the week compared to the now very tired and boring Sky guys. Knowlegeable they are, interesting they are not!!

Gone a bit off topic there, but yes, I too was getting rather fed up with the interviewers constantly harping on about how the players had struggled and what their thoughts on Tiger were. It's like interviewing you about how good ur partner is in bedroom department, then comparing him/her to the one previous whilst the current one is stood there..... it's just not done!!!!

P.S. - changed my screen name a little

Asking their thoughts on Tiger is a legitimate question, IMO, as it puts them on the defensive and they have to seriously think on what they should say.

Of course he is awesome, anyone who gets up to a hole of over 500 yds with a drive and nine iron, is most definitely awesome.

Westwood had his chance and he failed to step up to the plate, no one remembers who came third.

Quite right John (Pettitt), I think tiger just shows what can be done when you dedicate your life to a sport, he is just showing the others how poor they really are in comparison. they just aren't capable of dealing with him

And I for one can watch him do that day in and day out.

TIGER RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have to accept a lot of Tiger coverage when he's taken 2 months off to injury and competes with that injury. It was something you knew would be the No.1 Subject of Discussion. As he got into contention to win the event it was going to draw the media even more.

As someone else posted during the event check out the crowds following Woods' group as opposed to the at the time leaders and other contenders. No contest really, the people were there to see Woods.

As for Westwood, he's a nice guy, bit of a 10 percenter and like all the European Lads incapble of having 4 good rounds in a Major or big competition. He has to have one round where he finishes in an Ambulance.

I'll watch Tiger Woods all day long, he does things no one else can do or dream of doing. Without him the Golf isn't the same and if he takes some more time off now for his injury, attendances will drop and viewing figures will fall. Thats fact.

agree with some of your points lads however  a few questions...

John P i may be wrong but i cant remember any 500 yarders that Tiger took a a drive and a 9 iron on!!  Secondly i dont think Lee Westwood blew it or bottle it in any way, i have not looked at any stats but i think over the 4 days he played very well, probably hitting more fairways then most and lets face it thats whats the game is all about, hitting fairways and greens in regulation! Its just shows how good Tiger is at recovering from some very tricky situations!

As a response to Your topic post Darren i feel that to question Lee Westwood on Tiger was ligitame questioning however the timeing could have been better, maybe having question LW on his round etc and then at the end of it turning to tiger having jusy completed the final round with him!!!

Jon T, great analogy 

Yes he's good and worth watching but I can honestly say I upgraded my cable subscription on Sunday to watch Westwood and not Tiger, although I did sit and watch the whole of the Monday play off which was a fantastic spectacle.

Stewart's spot on, there is nothing wrong asking about Tiger at the end of an interview but not within the first few questions, give the other guys some credit and respect. 

As for Tiger being the greatest ever, we will never know. If it goes down to the ammount of trophies won, then he will be the greatest. But this weekend proves a point I've had for a while. Are the others hungery enough to win? Do they see Tiger in there review mirrors and just concede defeat?

Hi Danny, have to agree with you on this, as he can only be judged against his peers of today and we all know he is showing himself to be way ahead of them all. I think where Tiger comes out ahead is his ability to play for four rounds, some just cannot seem to hang on for that distance.

I can remember our club championship at my club in Somerset. We had over thirty players in single figures all capable of shooting low numbers but over the 36 holes of the competiton, this was whittled down to only about four of us with any chance of winning.

There have been many great players down the years and we all know who they are.

What about Henry Cotton, shooting a 65 at Royal St. Georges, Sandwich in the 1934 Open Championship, arguably the hardest of the Open rota courses.

We will all have our favourites, but one thing I have noticed, is that they all seem to be able to hole putts much longer than I am capable of.

Old pros used to hit fairways and greens to post good numbers. Tiger just hits it, doesn't care where it goes, gets it out of the trouble better than his peers (he's had alot more practice at it lets face it!!), then holes his putts. It's fun to watch cos he's pulling off miracle shots on every round he plays and overcomes what looks like certain self-destruction, but it's hardly perfect golf these days.

And regarding this tournament, he was no better than Rocco over 72 holes, and only 1 shot better than Lee Westwood over those 72, and no better than Rocco again over the playoff. Where he was better than his peers was on the 1st playoff hole. He was carrying a debilitating injury, and battled through it, so kudos to him for that, but he was by no means the master out there last week. The gap between him and his peers was alot closer than usual.

I agree Jon with what you say about Tiger just hitting it and relying on his ability to get out of trouble.

However I don't think he does that all the time, I think that in this tournament it was mostly down to his injury that was causing the majority of his inaccuracy from the tee, he normally does boom it but is never normally as far off line as he was in this comp.  I think it's fair to say that his injury probably hindered him by easily a couple of shots per round, which would have meant if totally fit he would have won by 8 or 9 shots.  Far more like what we're used to....

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to play knowing that every drive was going to hit you with pain (apart from the mental pain I'm often used to after my drives!!)

You are right of course, John T, that Rocco was his equal this week, but then there is always someone up there with him no matter what tournament it is, but they only appear once in a blue moon, he is in contention 90% of the time he plays and that is what makes him stand out from the crowd.

As no one remembers who came second, he was the master this week. A win is a win.

He can be very wild, on occasion, John T, I agree ,yet if he were at my course doing the same thing, he would have a lot of lost balls, but because he still manages to score well we have to accept it. Seve was another one prone to finding other fairways but his artistry at getting down in two from everywhere was the key to his success.

Wayne, rather be off topic than off the fairway, whatever that is.

Just repeating what others have said...

What I find compelling with Tiger is not his long game (awesome) or short game (even more awesome) but his ability to put bad shots behind him. He knows there are another 17 holes or 3 rounds or whatever, plenty time to recover and for others to make mistakes. At the Southern Cup I put my drive on the first hole into the bunker, took three to get out, my head went down and my game went into meltdown. But then I'm not Tiger!

I think there is a time for asking these questions, and the second question in a post match interview is not the time. But I do find the insights of fellow players really interesting, because if they are articulate enough they can explain just how difficult the situation or shot is. Steve Davis is great at this at snooker, but then he is being asked to do so as a commentator.

You have to spare a thought for Tiger too of course. How he copes with all these interviews is pretty amazing. I remember him saying once that he would gladly have no publicity at all, and would be happy to kick everyone's butt in a tournament, and to know that they knew that he had kicked their butt (I think were his words).

Such a shame to hear the news this evening that Tiger Woods will not play again this year, due to having to now have full reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even more of a shock was hearing he played the US Open with a fractured left Tibia as well as his knee problems.

Certainly makes his victory look even more deserved and special now. Hope Retief Goosen gets some serious flack now for claiming Woods was faking injury.

*flack*

FLAK my dear Chris

Would be nice to see Tiger sue Goosen for every penny he's ever earned in golf for those comments.

Althought to be fair Tiger will probably just have a word with Retief and remind him that despite having a wrecked knee and a broken leg he was still a long way ahead of the South African in the US Open and in the Golf World Rankings.

, the comments made by Goosen were in my opinion made  with a little bit of tongue in cheek, a bit like when the likes of us are out with mates and we try blagging it when we duff one! and yer mate turns around and tells you to pull the other one!  Allthough that wont come accross in a newspaper!!

gutted tiger aint playing though!  i also heard in an interview with westwood that he could here the Knee clicking when tiger was hobbling about!

Fair palay yp him and makes hs victory even more amazing!