Out of bounds on trail of the Tiger
In an address entitled “Chasing Tiger and golf’s tour millionaires”, Garrity told the audience of the restrictions when it comes to interviewing Tiger Woods: “No one-on-ones, no phone interviews, no home visits, no hotel visits, no interviews at practice.” Garrity compared the present situation with the US Open in 1960, when Arnold Palmer, seven shots off the lead, had a hamburger between rounds in the locker-room with two reporters, Dan Jenkins and Bob Drumm: it’s generally accepted that Jenkins and Drumm helped goad Palmer into his famous rally to win the tournament.
This lack of access has led to a writing phenomenon Garrity described as “write-around”, a form of writing in which the absence of first-hand quotations and access is camouflaged. It’s characterised by a lack of first-hand scenes, or by “scenes of stunning triviality,” said Garrity. Other traits include an over-reliance on third-party quotations - an example being another golfer saying of Woods that “Tiger has really raised the bar this year.”
Garrity pointed out that “contrived controversy” also characterises this style of writing, drawing the audience’s attention to the 2002 Ryder Cup, when the outcome of a ping-pong game between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson became the focus of debate in print, as did the exact time at which Woods would practice in the morning.
Asked when he thought the situation with golfers had begun to deteriorate, Garrity pointed to the increase in prize money on the PGA Tour in the seventies; with bigger prizes at stake, golfers became more focused, and practiced harder, while they could also afford to bring their families on Tour with them. The latter development meant players spent less time socialising with writers, which increased the gulf between the two sides.
Garrity acknowledged that life had changed significantly for golfers in other ways. The growth of sports agents had not helped print journalists, as they were keen to control their client’s availability to the media. Some golfers were likely to become exasperated at their treatment by the press even if coverage wasn’t overtly negative: a player asked the same question in press conferences for months on end - like Casey Martin being asked for months about his leg.
Garrity also pointed out that golfers were now under huge time pressures, with lucrative endorsement deals that didn’t just involve wearing a sponsored cap - players were committed to corporate outings, photo shoots and commercials.
“Someone like Tiger Woods doesn’t want to do anything that doesn’t help him reach his goals,” said Garrity, “Once or twice a year he’ll do an in-depth interview for an hour with the Golf Channel. In that way he gets a lot done with the minimum effort and, to use a word that’s common in politics, it’s ‘unfiltered’ by a writer.”
Asked what was lost when journalists didn’t have access, Garrity’s answer was simple: good stories. “You can exhibit style in a write-around, but there isn’t much substance. They can be entertaining, but it’s like eating empty calories.
“For the golfers, they’ll feel the loss when their careers are over. There’ll be film and photographs, but their exploits won’t have been chronicled by the great writers we still have.”
Garrity said there were still great stories to be had through old-fashioned reporting, however. He instanced the Sports Illustrated reporter who had been assigned to “trunk” Vijay Singh at the 2000 Masters - in other words, to follow Singh until he had put his clubs in the trunk, or boot, of his car. By staying with Singh until then, the reporter saw the golfer slam down the trunk and say: “This place can kiss my black ass!”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
