Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tiger Woods, Since when did golf become a team sport?


Not only was I offended by Steve Williams' behavior post-'thank you' from Tiger Woods and his subsequent comments after Firestone and the win by his new employer, but I wondered why are we listening to a caddie give us his b.s. about "his" win. "his" win? You gotta be kidding me!

Oh yeah I forgot. "When a PGA pro wins, it's a team effort." His dry-cleaner for delivering clean gear, his pilot for getting him to the right city, his hotel for getting him a bed and his caddie for giving him yardage. And his swing coach, his short game coach, his mental coach, his workout coach…NOT

"In my book, says Rachid Sefrioui, a team sport is a sport where each member occupies a spot "on the field" and contributes equally to improve the score." Football, soccer, basket-ball, even team-cycling; in any team sport, even if a teammate is not performing well that day, the rest of the team can carry the game and even win it. Even if the star player, say Kobe Bryant or Lionel Messi, cannot play that day the team can still win.

In golf, if Tiger Woods or Scott Adams cannot play, "the team" cannot play. Stevie will stay where he belongs, the caddie pit. So enough of this team b.s. for golf. It is all about THE player. His skills, his feel, his mental strength, his determination. Every cling-on around him is only part of the support crew. And in the case of Stevie, the lack-of-support  "s"crew.