19th Hole
Controversial ESPN host says he’s ‘disgusted’ by Tiger Woods in unpopular rant
On Tuesday, a closed meeting amongst several of the golf hierarchy, all assembled for a PGA Tour player meeting including none other than Tiger Woods.
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ESPN’s divisive host Stephen A. Smith isn’t happy about it, though.
On Tuesday’s edition of First Take, the outspoken presenter made it clear that, in his opinion, it is disgusting that Tiger Woods is putting his considerable might behind the PGA Tour in the ‘battle’ against LIV.
Smith ranted:
“I’m disgusted by it. Let me explain why. The United States government, their number two trade partner, from what I’ve read, is Saudi Arabia. a host of U.S. corporations, and I apologize, I just googled it, I just looked it up just now. If I’m wrong about anybody, please forgive me, General Electric, AT&T, Bank of America, Halliburton Company, Pfizer International. A whole bunch of people. If I’m wrong, I apologize, it was online. Talk about these major corporations doing business. I don’t know. I just said it was online, so I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say U.S. corporations doing big business with Saudi Arabia and suddenly individuals are looking to get paid and everybody is in an uproar?”
Hinting at anti-competition regulations, the presenter continued:
“I thought this was America. I thought we were a capitalistic society. I thought competition breeds our greatness. That’s what I thought. Tiger Woods is sitting there acting like the PGA should be the only game in town. When do we say that? Now granted, if you’re the only game in town, you’re the only game in town. We see it in USFL and we see Arena Football but we know it’s the NFL and then everybody else. You can have the G League and college basketball, but we know it’s the NBA and everybody else.
“You got Major League Baseball, we understand that you can have those things, but the chances of you usurping them and eclipsing them are slim to none. They are established brands in the United States of America that garner the support of millions and as a result that’s what we gonna flow with. I’m good with that. That’s America. You establish your level of dominance to the point that it don’t matter what some competition is going to do, cool. This is different.”
Smith then puts the 15-time major winner in the spotlight:
“You got Tiger Woods supporting, feeling like players betrayed the PGA. What do you owe the PGA? Show the PGA, you work, you produce, you go out there and you earn your money,” he said. “They don’t pay everybody. Winners get paid. Losers don’t necessarily get paid. I don’t know all the particulars … and I’m not pretending to. I’m addressing principle, meaning American principle.”
“Now I’m a Black man first forever and always and very, very proud of it,” continued Smith. “But I am a proud American citizen and I do believe in the American system when it talks about capitalism, when it talks about meritocracy and handling your business and handling your own and may the best man and woman win. So if you better than LIV, be better!”
Referring to the feelings presented by the families of the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, Smith said:
“…the intensity you exercise toward golfers who want to compete under the LIV umbrella, we do the same thing to the government and the corporations. If you ain’t doing it for them, don’t do it to the individual players.”
Reaction to the speech, transcribed on mediaite.com has been, naturally, very mixed.
Support for the controversial presenter was limited with many taking an opposite stance.
Indeed, the general feeling was summed up by one respondent on the mediaite.com site:
“There is no explanation that will rationalize away the Saudi’s human rights violations. I don’t measure good and bad based on what American corporations do. They would sell their mother to the taliban if it meant bigger profits. I am happy that Tiger Woods is calling out the LIV golfers and trying to get more backing for the PGA. The LIV golfers have dug their grave and they can lie in it now. The Saudi’s believe in women as 2nd class citizens, and LGBTQ are even lower. They believe in corporal punishment which is vile. I DO have a problem with the idiot Smith fella criticizing anyone for finding fault with Saudi Arabia. I am sick of money talking, corporations deciding what is ethical and NOT prosecuting law breakers because they are politicians or rich.”
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith 'Disgusted' By Tiger Woods Rallying Against Saudi-Backed LIV Golf https://t.co/oZydyTvo6C
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) August 16, 2022
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
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