Tiger a very uncool cat to blame caddy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/06/2010 (5774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s an unwritten rule in sport: Never blame anyone but yourself for your woes. It makes you look like a suck.

On Sunday, after another ordinary round of golf that included six bogeys, Tiger Woods attempted to shift blame to caddy Steve Williams.

These are difficult times for Tiger. So tough, that the most talented man to ever swing a golf club is now reduced to blaming his caddy for shoddy play. Please.

"On 10, Steve (Williams) said, ‘Take dead aim at it," and I hit it my hardest. I can’t hit it that hard. I had a sand wedge in my hand and I can’t plant that flag. If you land that ball on the green, it’s going to go past the hole… I went against my own instincts and hit it to the right of the hole,’ " began Woods, who had just carded a four-over par 75 to finish the U.S. Open at plus-3 and in a tie for fourth.

"I also hit the wrong club on 12. My instincts were telling me to hit the five (iron) and play it to the right and just draw it in there. We (read Williams) thought four would be better, to hold it up against the wind and I just hit a brutal shot."

Two-time U.S. Open champion and TV analyst Curtis Strange saw right through Woods and his weasel act.

"In the end, it’s always the player’s final decision. You never mention the caddy in that context. I would never do it," said Strange.

"When you stand up in front of the world press and start naming your caddy, I would never do that. He had nobody to blame when it comes to clubbing but himself. He says he went against his instinct. Well, go with your instinct. He’s played the golf course many, many times and he knows what shots to hit. On 10, with a right pin placement, you just don’t go for it. You hit it to the left and try to feed it down. He made those decisions, and those are his own fault."

No kidding. Woods hasn’t won a tournament this year and Williams plays no part in that. The caddy didn’t get caught up in the sex scandal of the decade nor is he responsible for the aging of Woods and the breakdown of his body. Nope. Steve Williams is innocent on all those counts. Woods, however, is guilty with a capital G.

Don’t diss the help.

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Woods has either forgotten this rule or never grasped it. No surprise really. Woods has been awful at the Ryder Cup where team play is required and the glory is shared rather than hogged by one individual. He’s not a team guy, and his own needs always seem to come first.

But to throw Williams under the bus seems not only selfish but foolish. Williams has been a loyal pit bull for more than a decade. The rest of the world has bailed on Woods big-time as his tawdry affairs have been aired for all to see.

Williams has kept the bag on his shoulder and continued to walk a step behind Woods.

Now it seems Woods wants him to walk up front and take the bullets.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca