Tiger Woods has dealt with his fair share of cheating accusations in recent years, so when the much maligned superstar was called out in Brandel Chamblee’s Golf.com offseason report card, Woods’ representatives were anything but pleased.
In an interview with ESPN, Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg said he thought there would be legal action taken regarding Chamblee’s comments.
Golf is considered a gentleman’s sport, so calling a golfer a cheater is a big deal.
“There’s nothing you can call a golfer worse than a cheater,” Steinberg told ESPN. “This is the most deplorable thing I have seen. I’m not one for hyperbole, but this is absolutely disgusting. Calling him a cheater? I’ll be shocked, stunned if something is not done about this. Something has to be done.
“There are certainly things that just don’t go without response. It’s atrocious. I’m not sure if there isn’t legal action to be taken. I have to give some thought to legal action.”
Despite the legal threats, Chamblee stood by his story on Tuesday like any good journalist would, citing a carefully chosen vocabulary that left room for him to defend his statements even against those who disagreed. The criticism, however, doesn’t appear to be related with what Woods did.
The 37-year-old was “a little cavalier with the rules” in Chamblee’s words, something that can’t be disagreed with following the several near disqualifications Woods managed to squirm his way out of this season. What really seemed to irk people, though, was Chamblee’s comparison of Woods this season to a fourth grade version of Chamblee himself, when he was caught cheating on a math test. His teacher gave him a grade of 100 followed by a note telling him he knew Chamblee had cheated. He then crossed out another 100 and wrote “F.”
In his story, Chamblee admits he’s not in the business of predicting outcomes or giving grades but is often asked to do so. Just as his teacher had done years before, Chamblee gave Woods an initial grade of 100 based on his five PGA wins and Vardon Trophy for Player of the Year, but then crossed it out and wrote an “F” based on his assessment that Woods bent the rules too far and too often.
At least he’s honest.
Chamblee realized the controversy that he stirred though, and admitted that was not the intent of his report card. For that, he apologized to Woods via Twitter. Check out the tweets from Chamblee below.
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