Tiger and PETA, A Bad Combination

A few chip shots while waiting for the mud to dry:


-- According to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, PETA is planning to put up a billboard near Tiger Woods’ home in Windemere, Fla., featuring Woods’ image and the message “Too Much Sex Can Be A Bad Thing…For Little Tigers, Too.”

I couldn’t make this stuff up.

The idea – a really wretched one – is to promote spay and neuter programs for animals, according to a PETA spokesman. That’s why the billboard also says, ‘Help keep your cats (and dogs) out of trouble. Always spay or neuter.”

Woods, of course, has nothing to do with the billboard and PETA is looking for a company to sponsor the billboard, according to the newspaper.

Good luck with that. And the lawsuit that follows.

-- John Daly has an underwear endorsement with a company called Slix. That’s not something I really want to think about.


-- Prepare to be bombarded with talk about the par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale this weekend. It’s where thousands go for a party and a golf tournament breaks out. Sounds like fun if you’re there and, while you wouldn’t want it every week, it works in Phoenix.


-- Three events into the Champions Tour season and the winners have been Tom Watson, Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer. That’s precisely what the Champions Tour needs.


-- Almost a week after Woods’ public statement, the buzz is finally subsiding to a dull roar. He’s still getting blistered by plenty of people, who won’t ever get an apology/admission that will satisfy them. I can’t help but wonder how different things might be – if any – had Tiger made the same statement two months ago instead of waiting as long as he did.


-- I’m still waiting for Phil Mickelson’s big bang season to start. It’s been pretty muffled so far.


-- They’re starting to aerate greens around here which means, despite the weather, that spring can’t be far away.


-- A question of style: Is it too much to have all of your clubs, your golf bag and your cap with the same equipment company logo? If you’re not getting paid to do that, I mean. Just wondering…


-- David Feherty recently became a naturalized citizen of the United States. It’s a better country already.


-- The Masters is six weeks away. I’m thinking Tiger’s return is further away.

Poulter Proves He's More Than A Peacock

Professional golf has always had its peacocks.

Jimmy Demaret had a brash sartorial style and Doug Sanders’ career was painted in pastels as much or more than in championships.

Now we have Ian Poulter, who until his overdue victory in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Sunday, was known more for his trousers than his trophies.

If his impressive performances in the 2008 British Open and Ryder Cup matches didn’t convince doubters that Poulter is more than just a man with an eye for bold colors and expensive fabrics, his win over Paul Casey and a list of prominent match-play victims beforehand should.

Poulter jumped to fifth in the world rankings with his victory and if that seems high, it isn’t by much. While we’ve been watching his wardrobe, Poulter has been refining his game.

In the Tiger-free world of the PGA Tour, Poulter is exactly what professional golf needs. He stands out, not just because of his clothes, but because he can play.

And I like his clothes. They wouldn’t look good on me – or most of the people I know – but on Poulter, they look right. He has an eye for fashion, something the sartorially bankrupt John Daly is sorely lacking.

If you haven’t heard, by the way, in addition to wearing and endorsing the appropriately named Loudmouth Pants, Daly recently inked a deal to endorse a new brand of underwear. I couldn't make that up.

But back to Poulter. He took some heat last year for saying that when he’s on, he has the game to challenge Tiger. It was a bold statement for a guy who had never won a PGA Tour event and agreed to pose for a magazine cover wearing nothing but a well-placed golf bag in front of him.

Poulter has the edge to be different and in golf, it doesn’t take much to be different. Pink pants and a pink sweater make you different.

So does winning a World Golf Championship event.

Tiger's talk revealing, effective

If we've learned over the past three months about a Tiger Woods we never knew existed, we saw on Friday a Tiger Woods we haven't seen before.

He was shaky, uncomfortable, nervous, angry, emotional, contrite and sorry.

He looked like a man who didn't want to be there but understood why he had to stand before the world and confess his sins and failures. It had to be one of the most uncomfortable moments of his life and there have been plenty of those recently.

There will be more.

For all the discussion about the format - no questions allowed and only a handful of people in the room - Woods took a large and necessary step in his public and private rehabilitation process.

It was revealing and effective.

Was it everything everyone wanted to see and hear? No. But it was a strong start.

Woods talked about feeling entitled to a lifestyle that violated the principles and values on which he was raised. It was a powerful admission, saying he believed he could live by different rules even when it comes to marriage.

Scripted or not, it got to what this is all be about.

He talked about all the people he disappointed and he admitted he needs help. Part of Woods' persona has been built on the image of a man always in control - on the golf course, in the boardroom and in life.

Instead, he showed his vulnerability and admitted to it.

Yes, he was reading off a script but he came across as genuine. Particularly striking was his defense of his wife, Elin, and his children. It was when he was the most forceful and you could sense him feeling the pain he's caused.

Woods defended his right to privacy when it comes to his relationship with his wife and family and he's right. He scolded the media for following his children, a justifiable dig at the tabloid publications that have treated the whole thing as a feeding frenzy.

There will be plenty of complaints about what he did or didn't say and why he wouldn't take questions but the message he delivered Friday gave the world a glimpse into his upside-down world.

The whole thing felt strange but everything about what's unfolded since Thanksgiving weekend has felt strange. There was no way this wasn't going to be uncomfortable.

He has put himself in an impossible situation. He has wrecked his life and his image and the process of rebuilding it doesn't come with a how-to manual. He didn't blame anyone but himself.

When he was finished speaking, Woods walked over and gave his mother a long, close hug. He spoke to a few people then walked away.

Behind a curtain again.

Is Tiger Closer To Returning To The PGA Tour?

Forget for a moment -- if that's possible -- all the allegations, revelations and speculation about what Tiger Woods has or hasn't been doing these past few months.

Put aside the storm of controversy surrounding his method of delivering his message tomorrow.

Consider the golf question:

Will his public statement Friday bring him closer to returning to the PGA Tour?

Is he going to say he's prepared to return to the tour sometime soon?

You have to think so.

Maybe he's ready, or close to ready, to come back to golf. We've seen a recent photograph of him out jogging but not one of him with a golf club in his hand. Maybe that's next, after the flood of images from his public statement on Friday.

For all this runaway story is about, it eventually comes back to golf. That's why we cared about Tiger Woods in the first place. When he comes back, we'll pay attention again.

He's lost some people for good. Others he'll win back. Some can go either way.

There are plenty of flashpoints in this whole tangled story. As for golf, it will be nice to see him back.

Westbrook Headed To CPGA Hall Of Fame

The Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame will get a little richer Sunday night when Jim Westbrook, a fixture at Carmel Country Club, is inducted during a ceremony at Myrtle Beach.

Westbrook exempified what a good professional should be, overseeing a large operation at Carmel while always focusing his attention on the members. Like many others in his business, Westbrook got into golf because he loved to play but as a club pro, his duties and responsibilities kept him around the golf course more than on it.

“I always tried to put the members first,” Westbrook said. “Customer service was paramount to me. When someone pays that kind of money to join a golf club, they want to be treated well.”

Westbrook started in the golf business in Nashville,Tenn., then went to Waynesboro, Va., and Florence, S.C., before coming to Carmel in Oct. 1973. Westbrook spent nearly 29 years as head pro at Carmel before retiring in 2002.

He was instrumental in developing a number of assistant pros who went on to their own head professional jobs at other clubs. Westbrook created a business model with each assistant on his staff having specific duties. As the assistants moved up on the staff, their duties changed. “That way,” Westbrook said, “when they were finished, they understood every aspect of the operation.”

Westbrook also played a big role in the creation of the annual Carmel Pro-Am, the richest two-day pro-am event on the Carolinas PGA schedule.

“It’s very humbling for something like to happen,” Westbrook said. “It’s an honor.”

Golf -- As It Wasn't Meant To Be

If we lived in Cleveland or Milwaukee or one of those places where they spend as much time with a snow shovel as with a sand wedge, this winter thing might not be so bad.

But this is North Carolina, where golf is supposed to be a year-round game. Just not this year.

One day soon, the sun will shine, the thermometer will nudge near 60 and the wind will take a day off. And there won’t be a tee time to be found.

Until then, I’m tired of:

• Checking the seven-day forecast and seeing daily high temperatures that resemble my nine-hole scores;
• Spending time on the computer looking at Scotty Cameron putters instead of using one;
• Looking at brown grass;
• Hitting practice shots off of plastic grass. It’s nice plastic grass but it’s still plastic – and leaves green plastic skid marks on the bottom of your 8-iron;
• Eating soup at lunch in the grill room and wondering if it’s worth putting on four layers of clothes and my old mud-stained golf shoes to play nine holes just because…
• Watching enough golf on television to recognize Alex Prugh;
• And, Troy Merritt.
• Thinking about the stretching exercises I should probably be doing because they’re supposed to be good for me;
• Seeing commercials for ‘Being John Daly;’
• Telling the same golf stories because no one’s had a chance to warrant new ones;
• Waiting for Tiger Woods to return;
• ‘Carts On Path’ signs;
• Wondering whatever happened to my shorts;
• And my tan;
• Practicing my set-up in the garage in front of a mirror. (Okay, I don’t really do that but I’ve heard it helps);
• Feeling guilty about not playing through the casual water and cold weather like some guys I know;
• Washing my golf towel and calling it working on my game;

MIke Strantz, Sterling Sharpe And Lousy Weather

Thinking about golf while wondering if it’s worth playing in the wet, muddy and cold conditions that are in no hurry to leave us:

• With the addition of Monterey Peninsula Country Club to the rotation in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week, it’s a reminder of talent of the late Mike Strantz.
  

He reworked Monterey Peninsula shortly before his death, adding his artistic touch to a beautiful piece of land.

We’re fortunate around here because so much of his work is nearby. Tobacco Road in Sanford is great fun to play, Tot Hill Farm near Asheboro is unique, Caledonia at Pawley’s Island is outstanding and Bulls Bay near Mt. Pleasant, S.C., may be on my 10 favorites’ list.

Strantz was part cowboy and part artist. He liked to ride the property on horseback and he painted watercolors of the holes he intended to design.

I was fortunate to play golf with him twice on his courses and listening to him explain his designs was enlightening. He believed in visual intimidation but, in reality, his courses give players plenty of room to roam. Sometimes he pushed too far but he saw golf courses as art. He helped us see them that way, too.

• When the eGolf Tour kicks off its 2010 season next week at Hilton Head Island, former NFL star Sterling Sharpe will be in the field for the kickoff event. Sharpe will play as an amateur but he’ll add a bit of star power to the field.

• One good thing about the lousy weather we’ve had the past six weeks – this is the latest I’ve ever been even par for the year.
  

• Are you going to get a pair of those new Ecco golf shoes Fred Couples has been sporting? The ones that look almost like slippers or sneakers? He’s been wearing the dark ones but they make them in white, too, and from what I’ve heard, they’re already backordered.
  

• The latest rumor is that Tiger Woods will make his return to golf next month at the Tavistock Cup in Orlando which matches Isleworth members against Lake Nona members.

Is it likely? Who knows.

It would allow him to slide back into the public arena in a controlled atmosphere. But everything still sounds like guesswork to me.

• There’s a report that Jesper Parnevik’s golf career may be over. He’s dealing with a serious back injury that could require fusion surgery. No one wants to hear that.