Woods blasts Buick loutish behaviour
They shouldn’t need reminding that it was this mistake that largely caused the crowd trouble at the 1999 Ryder Cup. There has been loutish behaviour in the past and the problem again reared its ugly head as Tiger Woods came down the stretch on his way to another victory in the Buick Open on Sunday evening.
Now, it could be argued that alcohol is freely available at most tournaments on the European Tour but by and large its consumption has been confined to the tented villages and kept away from main areas of competition. It behoves the Tour to ensure that remains the situation, otherwise they will be handed the kind of giant sized headache currently being suffered by their counterparts in the States.
Woods made no secret of his displeasure at what was said and done as he and his Mexican partner Esteban Toledo were playing the 17th on Sunday and even when he had holed out at the finish, the scowl on his face indicated he believed his victory had been tainted by the fans behaviour.
“They did unnerve me out there,” Tiger admitted. “They were saying things that were just uncalled for at a golfing event. You don’t say that to any player, myself, Esteban or any player. That’s what happens when you get a lot of people who obviously have consumed too many. What did they say? Nothing you could repeat in here”.
Woods is 15-8 favourite going into this week’s PGA Championship and given the manner in which he dominates all his rivals, those odds may not be quite as prohibitive as first appears. He will certainly have the crowds rooting for him at Hazeltine on Thursday, even if they are disappointed at the fact his failure in the Open Championship means he won’t be going for the Grand Slam. How much of an advantage does he believe a pro-Tiger crowd gives him?
“I don’t think it’s necessarily that they are pro-Tiger, I think the fact that I’ve played with that kind of crowd enough, I’ve seen it, I’m used to it and other players who haven’t been in that atmosphere may not be used to it, it is a little bit different”, he said. “That’s just the way it is and I’m really excited about the PGA. Obviously winning the Buick gives you a little shot of confidence but I didn’t hit the ball particularly well in the last two rounds. But I managed my game well and I putted well. That gives you a nice shot in the arm.”
If Woods’s odds are prohibitive, it might be a good idea to look instead on his close friend Mark O’Meara, who has been showing a bit of form. Another top ten finish at the Buick sends him to Hazeltine in good shape and with words of encouragement ringing in his ears from Tiger.
“Mark’s my friend and I love him to death,” he gushed. “He’s my buddy and you would do anything for your buddies. I’ll always be there for him and try to provide any information I can to help him play well or just do well in life in general. He’s done so much for me. I can’t thank him enough.
“It’s not necessarily the golf shots, or the mental approach to the game or some of the insights he’s had. It’s just overall life in general. He’s been through it all and handled it with utmost class. Those things you want to emulate. It’s cool to see him make progress again.”
