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Tiger Takes A Shot at Accenture

by Jeff Skinner

Well, it appears that Tiger and his team may have kicked a hornets’ nest.  There seems to be an outcry from many in the press and the players about Tiger’s planned “media event” on Friday.  It’s not too often that you find any mainstream media that criticizes Tiger and it’s even rarer to find a player, unless your name is Jesper Parnevik.  Rex Hoggard says, “this one already has a circus feel.”  He also questions the timing of the event and wonders why this couldn’t have waited until Monday, after the Accenture Match Play Championship.

He finds a breath of youthful fresh air in Rory McIlroy.  McIroy voices what everyone else is thinking,” He’s got to come out at some point,” McIlroy said. “I suppose he’d want to get something back at a sponsor that dropped him.” Way to go Rory!  Tiger’s agent, Mark Steinberg says the timing wasn’t intended to slight Accenture. Sure, Mark, it just happens to be a lucky coincidence.

Hoggard calls Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour on the carpet for allowing Woods to use the PGA owned TPC Sawgrass for the event, “And what of the Tour’s culpability in this? According to commissioner Tim Finchem the Woods camp never asked for the Tour’s input, yet to hold the event at TPC Sawgrass, a mere 3-wood from Tour headquarters, is to offer at least tacit approval of the timing.”

Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest says everyone at the Match Play is questioning the timing of Tiger and his crew“And there was curiosity about the timing of the media event, coming in the midst of one of the biggest non-major tournaments of the season, a World Golf Championship event, not to mention a tournament sponsored by Accenture, which was among the companies that dropped Woods as a spokesman after his post-Thanksgiving auto accident ignited a tabloid firestorm about his questionable off-course behavior.”

He goes on to quote players, off the record off course, “That was the first thing we all thought of, like he is sticking it to Accenture — and that the PGA Tour is part of it all,” one player said in the locker room, shaking his head. “It’s like Tim (Finchem, the tour commissioner) has lost his head. He wants Tiger back in the worst way, and so he lets this go on. I mean, we all want to see Tiger back, but this doesn’t look good.”

Geoff Ogilvy echoes the sentiments of many golf fans, “The only thing I will say about it is that I would like to see him answer some questions,” Ogilvy said. “If he answers some questions, then that would make it real because he wouldn’t be working off a script. But it’s a start. And he’s got to start somewhere.”

The most entertaining bit of frustration comes from Alex Miceli on The Golf Channel.  He rants about Tiger and Tim Finchem and says the players are fed up with Tiger and his endless need for total control of everything.  He calls him selfish and gutless and claims Finchem is complicit in this slight of Accenture and this embarrassing situation. Take a minute to watch the video.  It’s a good thing Alex wasn’t wearing his bow tie.  The veins in his neck would have popped it right off.  I don’t think Alex will be one of the selected few at Tiger’s event, at least not this time.

Again, McIlroy says what we all are thinking,” “I’m just sick of hearing about it.”

Hoggard’s Story Link

Shedloski’s Story Link

Miceli’s Video Link

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