Tiger, and all pro golfers, should relax and shut up

From a late-March wire service article . . .

It wasn't just Tiger Woods' winning streak that snapped on the weekend in Miami. So did his temper, during an expletive-filled threat aimed at photographers lining the tee box during tournament play. "It's been frustrating because that's what been happening lately," Woods told ESPN's First Take. "It's one of the things that comes with playing in the last group, one of the distractions we have to deal with." After lipping out a putt on the ninth green during his final round at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral on Sunday, reports had a steaming Woods ranting: "The next time a photographer shoots a f------ picture on my backswing I'm going to break his f------ neck." During the ESPN interview, Woods said the distractions have affected his play – in this particular case, teeing off on the short, par-3 ninth, a camera's shutter went off during his backswing. His PGA Tour winning streak of five tournaments was halted at Doral, Geoff Ogilvy winning while Woods finished two shots back. "Each time it's happened, well, three out of four times, I made bogey," Woods said. "At the time I needed to make birdie, I flinched on it. (The photographer) got me in transition on my downswing."

I like Tiger Woods as a player. He's been great for golf, brought untold attention, TV ratings and money to the game and all who have a stake in it.

But, hmm. I thought Tiger Woods was supposed to have nerves of steel and was able to block out all distractions. Nothing fazes arguably the best golfer ever, we are told.

But he's fairly typical, in his often immature rants, of the pampered players of this country-club game. Players who seem not to be bothered if a jet passes overhead, or a bird chirps, or the wind rustles leaves on a tree, or many other such examples, while they are hitting or putting.

Yet have a human being so much as sneeze and all hell breaks loose. There are many ridiculous examples, one of which always comes to mind -- Davis Love and his caddy walking into a crowd (ooops, sorry, a gallery of patrons) asking "Who said that, who said that..." because someone either heckled him or uttered a peep which affected his, er concentration. Oh, to have been there to reply, "I did, you goof. What are you going to do about it?"

Imagine these guys trying to hit a 100 mph fastball with 50,000 fans screaming expletives at them during a baseball game? And don't give me this nonsense that golf is different. Shouldn't be. Tennis is supposed to be different, too, yet they allow crowd interaction at events like the Davis Cup. It's encouraged, in fact and they should allow it in individual tournaments. Just like they allow golfers to make fools of themselves with their contrived and awkward looking fist-pumping celebrations during team events like the Ryder Cup.

Even in tennis, in individual events crowds sometimes get out of control, particularly at the U.S. Open, because who's going to tell rude New Yorkers to shut up? Or who's going to tell the jets to stop flying over the U.S. Open tennis venue?

But golf? No. It has to be quieter than a church.  Nonsense, particularly  if you're going to praise these guys for their powers of concentration. The game and its players, Tiger in particular, should grow up.