Tiger Woods is mad. Usually, when he is in the center of a controversy, he takes the high road. He did so when Fuzzy Zoeller, the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilgman, and Sergio Garcia all made comments that were considered bordering on racist.
But Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel’s analyst who has made a name for being hyper-critical of Woods, has the world’s No. 1 player fuming. Why? Chamblee inferred that Woods is a cheater, the ultimate insult. And instead of brushing it off, Woods made a passive-aggressive play for the network to discipline Chamblee.
“All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward,” Woods said. “But then, I don’t know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that’s up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing, as he didn’t really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation.
“So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do.”
Woods was asked about Chamblee’s article he posted for Golf.com where he compared Woods’ rules infraction issues this year to him cheating on a test in school.
Chamblee wrote in a Golf.com article that he gave Woods an “F” for the year, the same year he was named the player of the year.
He wrote: “When I was in the fourth grade, I cheated on a math test and when I got the paper back it had ‘100’ written at the top and just below the grade, was this quote: ‘Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!’ It was an oft-quoted line from the epic poem ‘Marmion’ by Sir Walter Scott, and my teacher’s message was clear. Written once more beneath that quote was my grade of ‘100,’ but this time with a line drawn through it and beneath that an F. I never did ask my teacher how she knew I cheated and I certainly didn’t protest the grade. I knew I had done the wrong thing and my teacher the right, but I never forgot the way I felt when I read that quote.
“I remember when we only talked about Tiger’s golf. I miss those days. He won five times and contended in majors and won the Vardon Trophy and … how shall we say this … was a little cavalier with the rules.”
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg hinted at actual legal action because of the idea that Woods bends the rules when he’s on the golf course. Steinberg was with Woods in China and said the Golf Channel should reprimand Chamblee, even if he didn’t make the comments during a Golf Channel broadcast.
“I’m all done talking about it, and it’s now in the hands of the Golf Channel,” Steinberg said. “That’s Tiger’s view and that’s mine, and all we want to do is move forward. And whether the Golf Channel moves forward as well, then we’ll have to wait and see.”
To this point, the Golf Channel has not commented on Chamblee’s column.
