Social Graces, Or Not

Tiger Woods may be the best golfer of his generation (or all time), but he's always come up a little short in the social graces.  Whether it's his on-course demeanor, the drama of his break-ups with swing coaches and caddies, or even the juvenile flatulence jokes in the fairway with Feherty, there's often a noticeable lack of graciousness in his behavior.

A couple of nights ago the bride asked me, in my capacity as Muser-in-Chief, whether Tom Watson would really put Tiger on the Ryder Cup team.  My response was negatory, but I noted that I was waiting for Tiger to take Watson off the hook by taking himself out of consideration.  But, as you no doubt know, Tiger and Old Tom have issues, as Tom called him out over his on-course antics.

Per John Strege, The Striped One has finally gotten the memo:

An ailing Tiger Woods has spared U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson the difficult choice of

whether to select him, by announcing Wednesday that he is withdrawing from consideration, the PGA of America announced.

“While I greatly appreciate Tom thinking about me for a possible captain’s pick, I must take myself out of consideration,” Woods said in a news release. “I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed. They’ve advised me not to play or practice now.

“I’m extremely disappointed that I won’t be ready for the competition. The U.S. Team and the Ryder Cup mean too much to me not to be able to give it my best. I’ll be cheering for the U.S. team. I think we have an outstanding squad going into the matches.”

Errr OK, it might have been a difficult choice, but that difficulty was of a PR nature, not so much on the merits.  And without him there, do we think Tiger a big enough man to hope the U.S. wins?  I'm guessing he's still rankled by the 2008 win.

The reviews are in, and it's a bit of a split verdict.  Bob Harig at ESPN carries this from Tiger's mouthpiece Mark Steinberg:

"It was a big decision for him to place a call to Tom and take himself out of consideration," Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said. "Often times people have questioned Tiger's commitment to the Ryder Cup, to team events. Nobody should question his integrity when it comes to play for his country. I think this says a lot about his feelings toward the event and team competition."

Remember folks, he gets paid handsomely for this drivel.  And Mark, why would people question his "integrity" in playing for his country?  Could say this comment from the Google Way-Back Machine be a factor:

He compared the Ryder Cup to the final round in a major — even though he joked last week there were "a million reasons why" he would rather win the American Express Championship than the team competition.

Alex Miceli is also a fan of Tiger's selfless act:

In what can only be described as a magnanimous gesture, Tiger Woods pulled his name from consideration for the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team. 

It clearly had to be a difficult decision for Woods because he has said on more than one occasion, including after missing the cut at the PGA Championship last week, that he wanted to be on Tom Watson’s team that will make the trip to Gleneagles in September. 

By making the early decision, Woods has stepped up for the best of a U.S. team that already has its issues with Dustin Johnson out, Jason Dufner possibly unavailable with an injury and Matt Kuchar facing a back issue that might or might not be a problem.

Early?  What would be late for you Alex, November?  Jason Sobel is thinking more along my lines, characterizing the back-and-forth between Tiger and Watson as a game of chicken.  But finally Tiger was in a corner, per this:

As part of this year’s Ryder Cup team, Woods would have shouldered a burden like never

before. With 11 teammates – not to mention his entire country – counting on him, if he was neither healthy nor playing well (or both, a likely scenario based on his last few performances), the blame would fall less on Watson for picking him and more on Woods himself for not declining the pick. Against a heavily favored European side, he would have been an easy scapegoat for the masses. 

Woods’ announcement also saves him the embarrassment of not being selected. Injury and performance undoubtedly had a lot to do with his withdrawal from consideration, but let’s not understate the impact of his pride.

Nobody watching the Bridgestone or PGA could possibly believe he should be on the team.  But the announcement should have come on Friday or Saturday, to allow Watson to avoid all of the Tiger questions at the Monday presser.  

But better late than never, I suppose.