Tigers Press Conference

I don't think that is correct Snelly.

There are two sides to the argument I agree, but one of them is for the TW haters who have decided to dislike a man they have (presumably) never met, so are going on an image of him pieced together through various snippets of media. His peers do not share the same feeling about him despite him being the one that stops them winning on many occaisions. Even though he is the "cash cow" for these guys, it would still be hard to disguise genuine dislike. You just have to look at Sergio and Padraig or Rory Sabatini and.......well, and everyone else to see that.

The other side of the argument on here that I've seen are those who want the best golfers out there playing to make the strongest fields possible and that has to include TW. I don't see how that is rose tinted, sycophantic, hero worship or any other term.

For the record:

I'm not a TW fan, but he is the best golfer I have ever seen.

I don't support Man Utd, but Rooney is right up there with Messi as the best player in the world at the moment.

I don't think Maccy Ds is the best restaurant, but a double sausage & egg mcmuffin on the way to golf in the morning is essential
 
I don't understand how people can hold him in such high esteem either. Further, I think that having Tiger as your favourite golfer is just like saying Manchester United are your favourite football team or McDonalds is your favourite restaurant or Coca Cola is your favourite drink.
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This term "favourite golfer" got me thinking, is Tiger my favourite golfer?

And you know what, I don't think I have a favourite golfer. I don't want Tiger to win just because it's Tiger. All I want is to see the best golf and at his best Tiger plays the best golf. I don't want to see him win because all around him fall away down the stretch. I certainly don't want to see him win the way Faldo won against Norman. I won't even be dissapointed if Tiger doesn't make the cut. What I want to see is great golf, I'd love to see 3 or 4 players in with a shout on Sunday, neck and neck going into Amen corner. Ideally one or 2 of the Brits will be in there , I'd like to see Ernie up there as well, and ideally the winner will pull something special out of the bag on the last hole. I'd love to be on this forum on Monday morning talking about the shot that won the masters, if it's about Tiger then so be it but equally it could be about Poulter or Westwood, I don't really care.

I've said before I'm not one for "celebrity", most celebrities could walk past me in the street and I wouldn't know who they were (to be honest, if most golfers walked past me in the street without a baseball cap on I wouldn't recognise them). I will never get to know these people, they mean nothing to me and I mean nothing to them. I'll never get upset about Tiger losing or missing the cut in the way I get upset about Fulham getting beat (yes that's right, I support Fulham, you'd think I'd be used to them losing by now :))

What inspires me more than anything is great golf, over the last few years, Tiger has been responsible for most of that golf and that is why I hold him in such high esteem, it's his golf, not him as a person.
 
Good point, well made.

To counter, there are plenty of people I haven't met in public life that I don't need to meet to know that I won't warm to them. In fact I could name hundereds with little effort!

Also, I bet for every pro that is Tiger's mate, there's one that is the opposite.

I am not sure what point your making in relation to Rooney and McDonalds though? Anyway, our opinions differ is perhaps what you are highlighting and that's perfectly fine. And to push the argument further - Rooney, yes he is good but Messi is on another level entirely. McDonalds? I wouldn't eat it myself as I am particular about where the eggs I eat are from (comes from having our own chickens for years!) but you fill your boots chap!
 
This term "favourite golfer" got me thinking, is Tiger my favourite golfer?

And you know what, I don't think I have a favourite golfer. I don't want Tiger to win just because it's Tiger. All I want is to see the best golf and at his best Tiger plays the best golf. I don't want to see him win because all around him fall away down the stretch. I certainly don't want to see him win the way Faldo won against Norman. I won't even be dissapointed if Tiger doesn't make the cut. What I want to see is great golf
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and for many this is the issue, although no fault of TW (and I'm not a fan), it's the TV producers who decide whether you'll see good golf. TW in the field means you'll see whatever standard of golf he plays, not necessarily the best golf on the day.

and to see another golfer come back in the way Faldo did - that'd do me
 
and to see another golfer come back in the way Faldo did - that'd do me
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Don't get me wrong, I used to love watching Faldo, partly because my Grandad used to work for him and he gave me a load of golf stuff when I was a kid, but let's face it, Norman threw that away. Faldo played well on the last day but Norman carded a 78, Faldo shouldn't have stood a chance. I'd hate to see someone win on the back of a mammoth collapse like that.
 
I always try and be objective about superstar sportsmen. When they do wrong I think it's very easy to cast aspertions (sp) but why do we do that??? We don't know these people. We've never met them and had a chat with them or seen how they behave away from the cameras. David Beckham has always received fierce critiscism (sp) for not being the brightest spark but I know someone who interviewed him in his house and she said that he was a lovely, polite man who was at ease with his life and the people around him. According to the media, he's one step away from needing care and can't tie his own shoe laces!!!

So, TW. It would be easy for me to state that "he's not a gentleman" or that he doesn't carry himself well on the course but I'd be making those comments from the perspective of my life with TW as me. Do I smile on the course??? Yes. Am I courteous??? Yes. Do I spit??? No. So why isn't TW like me??? Well, if he was, he'd be doing a rubbish job instead of the job he's got. He's TW and we cannot imagine what living his life must be like. We all think it'd be superb but we've no way of knowing. We look at the golf and the money and think it must be hunky-dory in the Woods household - evidently that's not the case. I bet he has days when he wishes he was Jon (or should that be Rob) Smith.

I've never warmed to TW but then he's never tried to warm to us, in my opinion. But then again, am I looking at this with an English mentality??? We love our sportsmen to be loveable, don't we. Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, Gazza, Phil Tufnell to name but a few but they weren't winners. When we get one we moan that he's not 'fun' - Nick Faldo. TW is the world's best golfer - simple. I watched him last year hit shots that I could only dream of. I pay him to play golf and he does it better than anyone else. If I want to pay someone to play up and make me smile then I'll go see a comedian. We may see TW's media image change over the next few weeks/months.

I do agree that his on-course behaviour needs to change. The club throwing and swearing doesn't bother me - how many of us can honestly say we've never thrown a club or sworn after a duff shot??? I started watching golf in the late 80s and I witnessed loads of golfers doing back then so it's no new thing (the swearing is more audible because of enhancements in microphone technology). I don't agree with spitting. It's disgusting and unhealthy and there's no place for it on any sports field - in my opinion.

The world of golf is richer for TW's return - that's a no brainer. He's the best in the world. His carefully manipulated image has been shot to pieces and that's probably a good thing. He's now at the mercy of the paperazzi now so he's got to be on his best behaviour. There's no hiding place for him anymore.

As an aside, any man who can keep 10+ women on the go at one time deserves nuff credit. I struggle to keep one woman.......
 
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