You may have heard that Tiger held a press conference today for his upcoming AT&T National golf tournament.  It was Tiger’s first appearance since his WD from the Players Championship after 9 holes and naturally, people were interested to hear if he was planning on playing at Congressional next month (shocker alert:  He is).

However the press conference took an interesting turn before it even started when Tiger posted the tweet above to his Twitter account.  And then right before the start of the press conference, Tiger posted this:

Honestly, I thought it was pretty funny.  It seems like the kind of thing that you’d joke about posting with your buddies if you were in Tiger’s position.  Yes, it put the reporters in a bind, but everybody knew the questions about this leg were going to be asked, and of course reporters didn’t disappoint.  Tiger later tweeted that he would be making the $1m donation anyways, which he was no doubt planning to do all along.

It probably wasn’t the most well thought out Twitter post (not that Twitter has a reputation otherwise), but to hear some in the media talk about it, you’d think he just killed a kitten and blamed it on the Dalai Lama.

Some reporters complains that Tiger doesn’t give straightforward answers, he’s too private, he doesn’t like them etc.  Let’s not pretend it’s all roses coming from the media either.  Here are a few quotes from Geoff Shackelford’s write up of the incident:

It really is remarkable that at this point they call a press conference after everything that happened–namely the lies–and hope to get nothing but fawning softballs.

They should be grateful anyone shows to hear a former world No. 1 plug a tournament he may or may not finish.

And one more attempt at humor that speaks volumes about Tiger really needing professional help to work out his anger toward the media.

And Shackelford rants about Tiger’s hostility towards the media?  That’s a two way street buddy.

Honestly, I used to be a big Tiger fan.  I’m not anymore, so don’t make me out to be some kind of Tiger apologist.  It’s just that I don’t get where this anger towards Tiger comes from.

I can understand it from fans who feel betrayed by his actions.  But I don’t understand it coming from some in the media, who in theory are supposed to be unbiased.  Tiger doesn’t owe the media anything, so I don’t understand why people get so upset that he knows how to play the interview game just as well as any politician.

At the end of the day, it’s a job – it’s not personal.

I didn’t post anything about it on this site, but it’s been all over the interwebs that 2 weeks ago Rory Sabbatini received a 30-day suspension from the PGA Tour that was supposed to start this week. However if you check the tee times for tomorrow, Sabbatini is scheduled to tee off at 12:13 with Tom Lehman and Kenny Perry.

Apparently Sabbatini, who is sometimes known for having a “difficult” personality, got into an argument on the golf course at the Zurich Classic with his playing partner, Sean O’Hair. The details are fuzzy, but apparently the two had to be separated by O’Hair’s caddy/father-in-law, and then they revived their argument once in the locker room.

This wasn’t Sabbatini’s first run in with somebody at a tournament (or his second), and consequently the Tour reportedly levied a 30-day suspension. O’Hair reportedly received a fine. Sabbatini had 2 weeks to appeal his suspension, which otherwise would have started this week.

However, over the weekend Sabbatini and O’Hair talked on the phone, with both players apologizing for their behavior. I don’t think they’ll be hanging out together off the course anytime soon, but afterwards O’Hair did tell reporters that he felt Sabbatini should not be suspended.

Because the PGA Tour refuses to discuss disciplinary matters, we’ll probably never know exactly what happened. But I suspect that with both players settling their differences and O’Hair publicly coming out against a suspension, the PGA Tour decided that a suspension would only serve to bring additional negative attention that they didn’t want.

All along Sabbatini has maintained that he wasn’t going to be suspended.  A suspension this month would have certainly been a tough penalty as both the Colonial and Byron Nelson are “home” events for Sabbatini, who also happens to be a past champion at the Byron Nelson.  Clearly the controversy didn’t hurt Rory on the course as he posted a 3rd at Quail Hollow and a T26 at the Players.

So what do you guys think happened?  Did the PGA Tour change their mind or was the media jumping ahead of themselves by reporting that Sabbatini had received a suspension?

[Image Flickr/Keith Allison]

Late yesterday, Ian Poulter sprinted from the 17th tee all the way to the green, putted out, and then teed off on 18 while his playing partner Dustin Johnson was still on the green and Phil Mickelson’s group was just walking off the 18th tee.  Why the rush?

By putting a ball in play on the 18th, Poulter and Johnson were able to finish their round even though the horn sounded to end play.  If the horn had sounded while they were still playing the 17th, they would have had to show up for a 7:30ish tee time this morning, play one hole, and then hang around for a few hours to start their 4th round.

I think DJ owes Poulter a drink for getting him a few extra hours of sleep this morning.

Adventurous fan Norman-Gerard Merizzi retrieved Michael Bradley’s driver from the water hazard yesterday next to the 7th teebox.

According to the Florida Times Union, Merizzi recieved an autographed glove from Bradley and Oosthuizen’s caddie gave him a golf ball.

The 17th at TPC Sawgrass is a tough hole as Alex Cejka, Paul Goydos and Edoardo Molinari can attest.  The group scored a combined 20 on the par-3.

Cejka and Molinari both put 2 shots in the water.  Cejka then 3-jacked it for an 8, while Molinari managed to salvage a 7.  Goydos, who only put one in the water, had the honors on the 18th teebox with a solid double bogey.

For those of you counting at home, that’s 5 shots in the drink between the three of them.  Video after the break:

The Tour Report

After shooting a 42 on the front nine, Tiger Woods withdrew from the Players Championship this morning, citing pain in his left leg.

“The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that, and then the calf started cramping up,” said Woods, who triple-bogeyed the par-4 fourth hole and made three bogeys and no birdies. “Everything started getting tight, so it’s just a whole chain reaction.

He’s had 4 surgeries on his left knee and did not start at Quail Hollow last week due to lingering pain in his knee from the Masters.  This withdrawal certainly raises the question of whether or not Tiger will be 100% at next month’s US Open.  And even if he is physically healthy, will he have had enough playing reps to be competitive?

Golf.com

This week the world’s best (well except for Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy) are gathered at the TPC Sawgrass for the so called “fifth major”, the Players Championship.  Like many others, I think the “fifth major” label is stretching it a bit, but if you just went by the coverage on the Golf Channel, you’d think the US Open was being held this week.

That said, the Players Championship is always a fun tournament to watch and the notoriously difficult island green on the par-3 17th is one of the most exciting holes in golf.  So who do I think will emerge victorious on Sunday?

Luke Donald – The world #3 is an easy pick this week.  He extremely accurate off the tee and a great putter.  According to the new Strokes Gained – Putting statistic, he was actually the best putter on tour in 2009 and 2010.

Because he’s not a bomber, there are certain courses where it’s difficult for him to contend, but last year Tim Clark showed us all that you don’t have to be a huge hitter to win the Players.

Adam Scott – Scott had an incredible week at the Masters and followed that up with a solid outing at the Valero Texas Open.  He’s taken the last couple of weeks off, so he should arrive at the first tee on Thursday rested and ready to go.

Scott has always been a solid ball-striker and has historically been held back by his putting.  He definitely seems to have found something with the long putter though.  So if he’s able to maintain that, we’ll likely see him in contention on Sunday.

Tommy Gainey – Gainey is definitely a bit of a dark horse pick.  He had two consecutive 3rd place finishes at the Heritage and Zurich but then followed that with a MC at Quail Hollow.  It seems like Gainey is either in the mix or misses the cut.  That’s just a reflection of his go-for-broke playing style.

It’s a lot of fun watching Gainey and his home-made swing out there amongst all the picture-perfect swings on Tour.  I’d love to see him walk up to the 17th tee with a chance to win on Sunday.

Ben Crane – Ben Crane was one of my dark horse picks at the Masters.  That didn’t turn out so hot.  But I think he actually has a great chance at the TPC Sawgrass.  In his last 3 years here, his worst finish is 6th.  For whatever reason, he just plays really well on this course.

Martin Kaymer – Wow, Derek, you’re taking such a risk picking the world #2 and #3 players this week.  I know, by world ranking, Kaymer should be a favorite to win this week.  But after his missed cut at the Masters, he’s not at the top of many people’s list this week.

At the end of the day he is the #2 player in the world and got there for a reason.  He’s got something to prove after Augusta and I think this could be the week he does it.