It wasn’t caught on network, but a bystander caught video of Steve Williams looking for Tiger’s driver after he tossed it and it landed in a Marsh.
My first golf instructor taught me that you never, ever throw a club. Aside from the unseemly nature of the business, someone could really get hurt. Can you imagine the size of the lawsuit if he had hit someone?
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Excuse me for stating the obvious, but it seems he is doing his best to draw attention to the fact he feels he is not up to what he feels is his standard. In other words, acting out.
It is something that I see more often in those new to the game, ones that like to talk a better game, then display surprise and dismay at their bad shots which are usually, if the truth was known, (and it is not hard see through) not really out of the ordinary.
If I paid to see this event and saw Tiger act like this, I am not sure it would leave me with a good opinion of professional golf. Instead of fans saying they saw Tiger hit a booming drive or recovery shot, they see a spoiled prima donna having a drama queen hissy fit. Thing is, I am pretty sure he couldn’t care less.
I think that it must be very difficult to have been the absolute, unchallenged best, and to suddenly find that—at least for a stretch of time—you’re merely very good. He has to be wondering what happened.
I wonder if Tiger would have pulled this in a place where he thought that network cameras could have caught it, if he had that much control.
I don’t think it is an act. We have seen enough of his temper, just not the marsh throw before.
As far as what I would think of professional golf, I am not sure it would change. Tiger is outside of professional golf. The bulk of the players show appropriate ettiquete and sportsmanship the vast majority of the time.
You know, the USGA should actually address this in rules. Take club throwing out of ediquette and put it in the rules. Here is what I would do:
Any club thrown by a player and coming to rest more than 10 feet from the player is considered a discarded club and is removed from the players bag for the remainder of the round.
My guess is every player could be fully aware of this rule and you would still have a couple players finishing without a wedge, putter, or driver per tournament.