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Cuts don't down Woods

Despite criticism, PGA's top player stands by his comments on Augusta and the Ryder Cup.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 17, 2002

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Eliminate a British thunderstorm, add a Minnesota birdie and Tiger Woods might be celebrating the greatest year in golf history.

Instead of victories in all four major championships, however, Woods has endured a different kind of grand slam.

Woods has spent a good part of the past three months defending his comments on several high-profile topics.

Back on the PGA Tour after a two-week rest following the Ryder Cup, Woods, 26, was at the Walt Disney World Resort on Wednesday, where the $3.7-million Disney Golf Classic begins today, one of two official events remaining for him this year.

His five victories, two major championships and tour money title were discussed after a practice round on the Magnolia course. And so were Augusta National, the Ryder Cup and his opinions on those subjects, more the rage than his exploits on the course.

"I get criticized either way," Woods said. "Everyone wants to have you on their side. That's human nature. Everyone wants you on their cause. I said my opinion. If I get asked, that is my opinion, that is what I say."

Woods, however, has had a difficult time shaking the echo of his words.

For a man who came onto the tour in 1996 with a Nike ad campaign that spoke of his inability to play certain courses because of his ethnic background, his stance on the men-only members policy at Augusta didn't sit well.

And for a man who will make more than $60-million in endorsements alone this year, his crack last month in Ireland that there are "a million reasons" (as in dollars) why he would rather win the American Express Championship than the Ryder Cup also played poorly.

Throw in his early morning practice round the day before the Ryder Cup, which was criticized heavily in Europe, his comments about the lead-up to the event being "too much," even the alleged lack of unity with U.S. teammates because he didn't wear the same clothes, and you've got what amounts to a fairway full of hazards.

Woods handled it Wednesday like a two-shot par-5.

"If you're one of the top players, you are going to get criticized a little more than the other guys," said Woods, who will capture the tour money title for the fourth straight year and has amassed $6,496,025. "That's what's transpired this year."

When the Augusta membership controversy began to gather momentum during the summer, Woods was asked about it at the British Open, where he was the first player in 30 years to have a shot at winning the first three major championships of the year.

"They're entitled to set up their own rules the way they want them," Woods said.

The next day, the New York Post's headline screamed: "Hypocrite."

Woods has not backed down, but he has become more diplomatic. And he acknowledged that he is in a difficult spot with the Augusta National issue. Yes, he supports women membership at the club. But the same place where he has won three Masters titles also donated $500,000 last year to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

"I stick by what I said. Everybody has a right to do what they want," Woods said. "Is it unfair? Yes. Do I want to see a female member? Yes. But it's our right to have any club set up the way we want to."

As for the debate between Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson and Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, Woods said: "Hootie is right and Martha is right. That's the problem. They are both right but are going about it the wrong way. If they both sat down and talked about it, it would be resolved a lot better than what is going on right now."

As for the Ryder Cup, Woods contends he was kidding when he made his "million reasons" comment.

"That was bad for him to say," said friend and Ryder Cup teammate Mark Calcavecchia. "Because $1-million to him is like $10 to everyone else."

Woods believes the lead-up to the event is too much for the players if the tournament is as important as it is made out to be. He has voiced his concerns to PGA of America officials who run the Ryder Cup, as have other players, with no response.

So when he played an early morning practice round the day before the event began, the critics bashed him for not being a team player -- even though captain Curtis Strange allowed him to do so.

"People forget that Calc played with me during the practice round, and he didn't get criticized at all," Woods said. "Just Curtis and myself. It was unfair.

"It was very interesting. People were saying I was unpatriotic and I wasn't a team player because I didn't have a team outfit. (Woods wore a turtleneck sweater.) That was part of our team outfit, it was our option to wear it. I thought that was kind of funny they were picking on that."

Woods won the Masters and U.S. Open this year and called the season "one of the best I've ever had." Were it not for a third-round 81 that came during a rainstorm at the British Open, he might have won all four majors. He finished a shot out of a playoff at the PGA Championship in Minnesota, his first runner-up finish in a major.

On Wednesday, Woods prepared for a low-key event he has won twice in his adopted hometown. He teed off in the darkness with Mark O'Meara and finished before 10 a.m. Nobody complained.

Of course, spectators were not permitted.

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