Tiger Woods has shown a restraint many men would be unable to manage. Throughout his career there has unabashed criticism slung at him, for one thing or another, justified or not.
Woods has handled it all either silently or with more grace and decorum than most – especially Charles Barkley.
The NBA Hall of Famer caught wind of the hot comment of the week, when former PGA great Greg Norman said that Woods was “intimidated” by 23-year-old Rory McIlroy.
It was an outlandish comment from Norman. Woods has 74 PGA victories and 14 major championships. McIlroy, while talented and clearly the No. 1 player in the world, has three majors and a handful of tour victories.
Barkley, among others, noticed the absurdity in Norman’s comment. But he took a different approach. Instead of ridiculing Norman, Barkley went after his friend, Woods.
On ESPN radio in Chicago, Barkley said he was “disappointed” in Woods for not speaking up on how outrageous Norman’s claim was.
“I would like for him to just blast Greg Norman,” Barkley started. “That situation gave everybody a chance to dump on you, and (Tiger) still tried to take the high road. I’m not a high road guy. I want him to come out and really blast Greg Norman. I wish he would just go ballistic on Greg.
“I wish I could put some of my blackness in him … like toughness … (I’ve been) arrested eight times for fighting. . . just because I’m Charles Barkley, you can’t disrespect me. . . You just can’t say anything to me anytime you want to.”
Woods has not spoken for any causes, not even his own in many cases. He just gives the political answer, snarls on occasion and lets his play be his mouthpiece. Sometimes, that’s just fine. But the many-times ridiculous Barkley has a real point on this one.