Bernie McGuire.....Rory McIlroy won for the first time this year, even if it was an 18-hole exhibition against Tiger Woods.
McIlroy made four birdies and an eagle over the last seven holes at Mission Hills for a 6-under 67, giving him a one-shot win over Woods. It was the second straight year McIlroy has defeated Woods at the medal match in China.
McIlroy was a major champion, No. 1 in the world and on his way to sweeping all the important awards. He signed a lucrative deal with Nike a short time later, and this season has been a struggle. McIlroy has had only one reasonable chance to win a tournament, and he didn’t even qualify for the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour. He is using a new driver and a softer golf ball, even prompting Woods to say to him after one chip, “How did you do that?”
The banter was free and easy, mostly about equipment. Woods was trying to recover from a virus he picked up from his daughter, and spent most of the afternoon asking his caddie for cough drops.
The golf was spectacular over the final hour on the Blackstone Course, however.
The match turned on the 17th hole. Woods came up short on his approach and after nearly flying his pitch into the cup, he missed a 5-foot par putt. Woods had a 20-foot eagle putt on the 18th for the tie. He missed, and McIlroy knocked in his 3-foot birdie.
Woods could hardly raise his voice after the round.
“I don’t sound all that well now, but it was nice that it was warm out there today,” Woods said. “That certainly helped because I think my fever broke and I can start feeling a bit better. But I tell you what, when you have kids, they bring home some strong bugs, and this one has definitely been kicking my butt for the last couple of days.”
McIlroy was headed back to Shanghai for the HSBC Champions. Woods is skipping the World Golf Championship, and will play next week in the Turkish Open.
Prior to the match Woods issued a veiled challenge to Golf Channel over a column written by analyst Brandel Chamblee in his first public comments since the controversy first surfaced earlier this month.
Chamblee, a longtime critic of the world’s No. 1 player, wrote a column for SI Golf Plus in which he gave Woods an “F” for his season for being “a little cavalier” with the rules.
Chamblee is best known for his work with Golf Channel, though he also is a contributor to SI Golf Plus. He took to Twitter last week to apologize to Woods for “this incited discourse,” though not for the content of his column.
“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.”
Golf Channel has not commented on the flap. Chamblee has said he was not asked to apologize by anyone. Chamblee saved Woods for last in his report card of 14 players in a column posted Oct. 18 on Golf.com. He told of getting caught cheating on a math test in the fourth grade, and how the teacher crossed a line through his “100” and gave him an “F.”
Chamblee followed that anecdote by writing, “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.” He then gave Woods a “100” with a line through it, followed by the “F.”
In one of his tweets last week, Chamblee said he intended to point out Woods’ rules infractions, “but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far.”
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, was so incensed by the column that he issued a statement to ESPN.com that raised the possibility of legal action. Steinberg shared his client’s views.
Chamblee said in an email last week to The Associated Press that he never said outright that he thinks Woods cheated, and that was by design.
“I think ‘cavalier with the rules’ allows for those with a dubious opinion of the BMW video,” Chamblee said. “My teacher in the fourth grade did not have a dubious opinion of how I complete the test. But she was writing to one, and as I was writing to many, I felt it important to allow for the doubt some might have, so I chose my words accordingly.
“What people want to infer about that is up to them,” he said. “I have my opinion, they can form theirs.”
Chamblee has developed a reputation for being critical of Woods, mainly regarding his golf game. His column struck a nerve with many, however, because of the implication that three rules violations and a penalty drop involving Woods amounted to cheating — the strongest accusation possible in golf.
“What brought me here was the realization that my comments inflamed an audience on two sides of an issue,” Chamblee wrote on Twitter when he apologized. “Golf is a gentleman’s game and I’m not proud of this debate. I want to apologize to Tiger for this incited discourse
Comment : The GC has been a half wedge away from being called the TC as in Tiger Channel throughout it's time on air. They are completely driven like all of us by ratings and Tiger has provided them with a popularity that has made the staff and station very comfortably well off.
I have been in the camp that has railed against their overwhelmingly one dimensional coverage of every tournament he is in whether he shoots 64 or 84, so while I welcome a voice, in this case Chamblee's, that is even remotely critical, eventually there is too much at stake for the suits to risk, and Chamblee will be told in no uncertain terms to shut up, or issue a formal apology
Tiger can boycott the station, and the word will be clear to all his peers who are beholding to him for the lucrative game they play week in and week out...
The GC simply cannot have that.
Bryan Angus
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