Tara Sullivan, columnist for the Bergen Record, was barred from the locker room after the Masters. She was attempting to interview Rory McIlroy, who was the leader heading into the Sunday.
“Bad enough no women members at Augusta. But not allowing me to join writers in locker room interview is just wrong,” the initial tweet read.
A member of the Masters media committee (Steve Ethun) told her that it was a mistake and that she should have been allowed in to conduct her interviews.
Augusta National Golf Club has a long history of discrimination and still does not allow female members to join the club.
[Masters chairman Billy] Payne couldn’t have scripted it any better. Instead of a disgraced adulterer winning with his wife nowhere to be seen, the tournament ended with a married couple hugging. Perfect. Right out of the 1950s. Just like Augusta. The bubble remained secure.
Unfortunately for Woods, it’s time to leave that bubble and join 2010 again. It’s a world that may include drunken hecklers, catcalls, fans taking photos during his swing, more airplane banners, TMZ cameramen, unsubstantiated rumors and media troublemakers starting trouble just for sport. It’s a world where my wife watches two people hugging and hates Tiger Woods because of it. It’s a world where, if he slips and drops an F-bomb during a tournament, the moment will be replayed again and again. It’s a world where Phil Mickelson is now the most popular golfer in the world, hands down, nobody else coming close.
Simmons also noted that Augusta does such a good job of controlling its crowd that Tiger didn’t have to deal with much in the way of heckling this weekend. That could change in upcoming weeks, however.
They’re already calling this the golf shot of the year, and it propelled Mickelson to the Masters title. It was on the 13th hole of Sunday’s final round, and he had to hit it between the trees and over the water. This is proof positive that Mickelson is daring.
Rick Reilly, ESPN: It’s not often women win the Masters, but they did Sunday. Actually, Phil Mickelson won, but for millions of women around the country, it must feel like a lipstick-sized victory. Mickelson, in case you forgot, is the guy who stayed true to his wife. He’s the guy who’s been missing tournaments the last 11 months while he flies her back and forth to a breast cancer specialist in Houston. He’s the guy who didn’t need reminding that women are not disposable. Mani-pedis for everybody! Also winning Sunday: karma, which proved to be alive and well. And guys who never had a temper in the first place. And endings that make you wipe your tears on the couch pillows. Mickelson is the guy whose heavy head on the bed pillow lately wasn’t self-inflicted. Both his wife, Amy, and his mother, Mary, have breast cancer. Usually, those two are at every tournament he’s in, but for the last year they’ve been fighting, resting, and fighting again at home. And Mickelson has gone back to his rented homes alone. So when Amy turned up on the 18th green Sunday at Augusta National for the first time in 11 months and Mickelson practically fell into her outstretched arms, you wanted to hug somebody yourself. Mickelson hugged and cried. And his wife hugged and cried.
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: Woods approached and decided not to take a drop. Woods’ caddy, Steve Williams, told fans to “watch the shadows on his ball” and then rolled his eyes when several people didn’t move quickly enough for his liking. After talking to himself for about 15 seconds, Woods took his shot, and a second after the swing there was a strong thud. The ball hit a tree and rolled out onto the fairway. Woods never said a word to Sullivan before or after ball met biceps. Interestingly, in the very next group, again on 11, Phil Mickelson’s shot hit a different fan, also in the arm, right near Sullivan. Mickelson approached the fan, asked if he was OK and handed him a glove. Besides illustrating the differences between how Woods and Mickelson treat people, the 11th basically ended any chance of Woods making his Masters return even more fascinating than it was. Woods bogeyed 11 just as Mickelson was starting to surge. And it was fascinating, curse-filled theatre watching Woods, to be sure. Woods shot 69 to finish 11 under and tied for fourth. His day typified what has been one of the more circus-like but brilliant returns to a sport after a layoff any great athlete has ever accomplished. It doesn’t quite rival Ali’s return to boxing, but it was on the same level as Michael Jordan’s return to basketball.
Rhonda Cook, an intrepid reporter for AJC, did a swell bit of investigating, and found out that the banners were set up through a Toledo, Ohio ad agency, but the company, Air America Aerial Ads, would not reveal who actually purchased the banners.
But don’t be too disappointed–there’s more on the way. Four more of the Tiger-bashing aerial ads will grace the skies over Augusta before the weekend is through.
It didn’t seem to have much of an impact on Woods, who shot a 68 on Thursday.
I just hope some reporter has the balls to ask Tiger about the signs.
Despite being entrenched in controversy stemming from a sex scandal since Thanksgiving of last year, Tiger Woods came out in the first round of the 2010 Masters and played outstanding.
From ESPN.com:
For the first time in 16 appearances at the Masters, Tiger Woods opened the tournament by breaking 70, shooting a 4-under 68 to trail 50-year-old Fred Couples by 2 shots.
It was Woods’ first round of tournament golf in 144 days after a highly publicized sex scandal that caused him to take a leave from the game.
“Very pleased,” Woods said of his first official round of golf since winning the Australian Masters on Nov. 15. “I hit the ball well all day. … For the most part, I think I hit the ball well all day. And I just didn’t make a lot of putts. If I putted well today, it could have been a really special round.”
“The people were just incredible, incredible all day,” he said.
It’s nice to see people separate what Tiger does off the links from what he does on them. There was really no reason to boo or criticize him, seeing as how golf has little or nothing to do with his personal life. He may still be the scum of the earth for cheating on his wife with porn stars, groupies and whoever was working the counter at Taco Bell that late Friday night, but again, that has little to do with his golf career.
It appears that the scandal humbled Tiger a bit, and that’s a good thing.
Nike’s new Tiger Woods ad has hit the web and I for one am a little creeped out by it.
In case you couldn’t tell, the voice in the ad is that of Tiger’s late father, Earl Woods. The voice over was obviously taped from a previous conversation and while I applaud the creativity of it, I no less think it’s a little weird that Tiger is getting questioned about his sex scandal from his late father from beyond the grave in a Nike commercial. But maybe that’s just me.
That said, Nike was smart to ride out Tiger’s sex scandal and stick by its cash cow. Our society has a short attention span so once he gets back onto the links (which is this weekend at the 2010 Masters, by the way) and starts racking up wins again, people are going to move on. They may not forget, but they’ll set their sights on another scandal in no time.
Comedian Robin Williams once joked that spring was nature’s way of saying “let’s party,” and this weekend, the party will be in front of your TV. The NBA and NHL are winding down their regular seasons, while baseball is concluding its first week. And don’t forget the yearly chase for the elusive green jacket at Augusta. Too many options…not enough time to watch them all. Thank God for DVR technology. Enjoy!
All times ET…
NBA
Fri, 8 PM: New York Knicks @ Orlando Magic (ESPN2)
Sat, 7 PM: Detroit Pistons @ Indiana Pacers (NBA TV)
Sun, 1 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ New Orleans Hornets (ABC)
Sun, 3:30 PM: Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers (ABC)
Sun, 6 PM: Philadelphia 76ers @ Toronto Raptors (NBA TV)
NHL
Sat, 7 PM: Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs (CBC)
Sat, 10 PM: Edmonton Oilers @ Calgary Flames (CBC)
Sun, 2 PM: Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBC)
MLB
Sat, 4 PM: Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels (Fox)
Sun, 1 PM: New York Mets @ Florida Marlins (TBS)
Sun, 8 PM: Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers (ESPN)
PGA
Fri-Sun, check your local listing for times: The Masters @ The Augusta National Golf Club (ESPN/CBS)
REAL CLEAR SPORTS.COM compiles nine reasons to root against Tiger Woods at The Masters this year:
HE’S NOT FAN FRIENDLY— Sure, everyone loves Tiger, but why? He doesn’t give autographs, stares straight ahead when walking through crowds, and offers little more than an occasional tip of the hat to acknowledge the throngs following him around the course. Not to mention he curses so loudly after hitting a bad shot that parents have to cover their children’s ears.
Woods may need all of that to maintain his supreme focus, but Arnold Palmer did all right with his career and was still more than willing to shake hands and say a few words to any fan who sought him out.
HE’S WON ENOUGH — Woods first won the Masters at the age of 21, and has done it three times since. If he wins this week he’ll have five green jackets and be within one win of tying Jack Nicklaus for the most Masters titles ever. Nicklaus would love to keep the record, but remember: It was the Golden Bear himself who predicted after seeing Woods in a practice round in 1996 that the young phenom would win more Masters than him and Palmer combined (10).
HE’S TOO SCRIPTED — Everything about Woods seems like it was pulled from some Hollywood movie of old, like the drama of last year’s U.S. Open, when he hobbled his way down the 18th hole on Sunday and then made a putt to force a playoff he eventually won. His comeback this year from knee surgery was true to form when he made an 18-footer in near darkness to cap a five-stroke comeback and win his last tournament. Nobody can possibly do those kind of things unless they’re drawn up in advance. Unless, of course, the name is Tiger Woods.
Personally, I like Tiger for all the reasons listed above (outside of him not being fan friendly, that is), although I wouldn’t mind seeing a youngster emerge and give him a run for his money. Even though the general public continues to be amazed at what Tiger does on a yearly basis, I think the sport of golf would benefit from some competition. Even tennis has one of the better rivalries in sports with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, so if a young gun could challenge Tiger, professional golf would probably become even more of a spectator sport.
