The world’s best caddie isn’t Steve Williams or Fluff Cowan or any looper on the PGA Tour. The world’s best caddie is Tiger Woods. Tiger’s bag is loaded down with the hopes, dreams and financial ambition of the entire sport. It’s unfair for one person to have to carry such a load, but the responsibility comes with a fairly significant upside, so, like most things in golf, it’s a tradeoff.
After the Friday round at The Memorial last weekend I heard Tiger shot 74, so I flipped on the evening rebroadcast of the event to see what happened. A few minutes in the TV crew got to the post-round interview with Tiger, and he graciously answered several questions, even smiling occasionally. I remember after a poor round in the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional, a young Tiger storming off after a poor round and snubbing interview requests, even though, at the time, every golf fan wanted to know every detail about every shot in every round Tiger played. The more mature Tiger is now poised and accommodating even in bad times, and it’s great to see. It’s yet one more way Tiger is encroaching on Jack’s legacy. Jack set the standard as a classy winner and a gracious loser. As Jack walked off after a tournament it was always difficult for fans to tell whether he’d won or lost. No one likes losing, but to do it with flair and class is a quality all sports need to see more. Now, if Tiger could text LeBron with a few pointers, it would certainly enhance the reputation of the NBA’s best “caddie.”
The ‘Mature Tiger’ may be gracious in interviews. He is not nearly so classy on the golf course. It is a not so well known fact that he is the most fined player on the PGA Tour for his language on the golf course, usually manifested when he hits a bad shot. And this is from a early thirtys father of two who plays a very limited schedule on the PGA tour. Thank God he is not miked. His behavior and language at the recent US Open between shots and while waiting for others to putt out was appalling. All of this was with many young adoring fans within earshot. He threw tantrums and clubs at the British Open, and based on only what we could see on TV, his misbehavior alone should have been enough to cause him to miss the last two rounds, let alone his golf score. He was embarrassing. The recent column by Rick Reilly of ESPN.com has put Tigers misbehavior in a larger spotlight. Tiger Woods has a long, long, long way to go to even approach the class and dignity that Jack and Arnie still display to this day.