There were no real surprises when Tiger Woods made his first, stage-managed public appearance since revelations of his private life first became front-page news last November. Tiger didn’t say much other than what we expected, but gave no clear indication of when his return to the game is likely to be.
What I still can’t get my head round, however, is the PGA Tour’s role in all of this. I just don’t know why they felt the need to endorse it by holding the conference at their headquarters. It could have been done anywhere, anytime and not in the middle of a very big golf tournament.
In trying to understand the overall situation, I think Tiger must have had a very strange childhood, removed from reality as the vast majority of people understand it. He was on television playing golf when he was just two years old so perhaps the balance in his life wasn’t as normal people would know it.
In the situation he is in, I can understand why getting back to golf isn’t a priority. I’m sure he will be back when he feels it is right. What wasn’t right, however, was the PGA Tour’s handling of the situation. While the circus was in Ponte Vedra, home of the PGA Tour, 64 golfers and some very valuable sponsors, mainly Accenture on this occasion, were putting on their own show in Tucson, Arizona.
The WGC Match Play was a huge success, not least for England’s Ian Poulter, but it did not quite work out as hoped for our eight representatives.
Ross McGowan put out top seed Steve Stricker and, along with Chris Wood who pushed Lee Westwood all the way, will have gained invaluable experience while Charl Schwartzel was a very unlucky third round loser. Charl is very comfortable now at the highest level and will make plenty of headlines in the near future.
Poults, meanwhile, deserves the highest praise for his achievements, not just in Tucson but throughout his career. I have known him for quite some time and for him to have come from where he was as a five-handicap assistant pro at 17 to the world’s highest echelon is remarkable.
So many players now are the product of either amateur or college programmes, so Ian is a wonderful example of what can happen if you chase the dream. He is also wonderful with sponsors and they get back every penny’s worth of their investment. I have nothing but admiration for him.
