Tiger Woods will be fined by the PGA Tour for his public criticism !!!!

CHASKA, Minn. (AP)—Tiger Woods will be fined by the PGA Tour for his public criticism of a rules official after winning the Bridgestone Invitational, a tour official said Monday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the tour does not publicize fines.

Woods was bothered after his four-shot victory Sunday because he and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock at the par-5 16th. He said that caused Harrington to rush three difficult shots, leading to triple bogey.

European Tour chief referee John Paramor told Woods and Harrington they were being timed.

Woods said he told Harrington after it was over, “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle.”

Paramor said the final pairing was well behind most of the back nine, but officials gave them time to catch up. They were still 17 minutes out of position on the 16th tee, when they were put on the clock.

Woods hooked his tee shot, punched out to 178 yards and hit an 8-iron that stopped a foot from the hole for birdie. From the right trees, Harrington hit a 5-iron to the edge of a bunker, went over the green, then hit a flop shot too hard and into the water. The four-shot swing took the drama from one of the most compelling final rounds of the year.

“I don’t think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it,” Woods said. “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.”

Harrington conceded he was rushed, although he said it would be unfair to give the final group preferential treatment.

Section VI-D in the PGA Tour’s player handbook says, “It is an obligation of membership to refrain from comments to the news media that unreasonably attack or disparage tournaments, sponsors, fellow members, players, or PGA Tour.”


Must go buy a stop watch and measuring tape....

but frankly speakin,,,,, do u mind being fined? when u earn >100mil a year?

wah if i play at firestone i'll probably be 170min out of position instead of TW and PH's 17min.

jaketang wrote:

but frankly speakin,,,,, do u mind being fined? when u earn >100mil a year?

It's not so much the fine but the need for ethical play which the pros adhere to. I guess PH felt that he needed to be professional and not slow the game down. Too bad the rush affected his shot so badly.

I, on the other hand, find that Tiger had the right to criticize official. Did they slow down the rest of the pack? No. So why timed them and rush them.

Khorkar wrote:

I, on the other hand, find that Tiger had the right to criticize official. Did they slow down the rest of the pack? No. So why timed them and rush them.

I guess it's more to the TV slot and broadcast timing...

jaketang wrote:

but frankly speakin,,,,, do u mind being fined? when u earn >100mil a year?

yes i will mind... if i am fined 200mil...

Well, i think even if give the last 2nd group a bit more time also doesn't mean they can catch up the gap... funny...

Anyway, a rule is rule!!! But rule written by human right???

I don't think the fact that they were in the last group made any difference, and rightfully so. The game is fair. The rules apply regardless. Even PH said that it would be unfair to give the final group preferential treatment. So, it's just the way things are... and TW can certainly afford the fine. He was just vocal about the rules official. Regardless, it's all water under the bridge.

Now, the PGA Championship lies ahead Can't wait!!

Woods Says He Won’t Be Fined for Criticizing Official (Update1)
2009-08-11 18:09:51.188 GMT


(Adds comments from Woods, Harrington, tournament details from fourth paragraph.)

By Michael Buteau
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods said he won’t be fined by the U.S. PGA Tour for publicly criticizing a rules official after winning golf’s Bridgestone Invitational.
The Associated Press, citing a tour official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the tour doesn’t announce disciplinary action, reported that Woods would be fined for saying European Tour chief referee John Paramor “got in the way of a great battle.”
“There is no fine,” Woods said in a press conference today at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, site of this week’s PGA Championship. “That was an erroneous report.”
Woods, who passed the $89 million mark in U.S. PGA Tour career earnings with Sunday’s victory, said he was frustrated that he and Padraig Harrington received a warning from Paramor for slow play late in the final round at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Paramor told the pair at the 16th hole that they were being timed, which could lead to a one-stroke penalty.
“I thought they would have used better judgment on that,”
Woods, 33, said. “We were the only two in contention to win the event. We had separated ourselves. The winner was not going to come from the groups ahead. It was going to come from our group.
And we were having a great battle.”

Four-Shot Swing

After the warning from Paramor, the World Golf Championships event was decided with a four-shot swing at the
par-5 16th, where Woods erased a one-stroke deficit by hitting his third shot within a foot of the hole for a birdie.
Harrington made a triple-bogey after hitting his fourth shot into a pond in front of the green. He later said that he hurried on several shots.
“That’s why I said what I said, because that certainly affected how Paddy played the hole, and the outcome of the tournament,” Woods said. “He was 1-up with three holes to go.
And you know, when we were put on the clock, it certainly changed everything.”
PGA Tour executive Ty Votaw said the world’s richest professional golf circuit had no plans to fine Woods.
“The information that was conveyed to the reporter originally was inaccurate,” Votaw said in a telephone interview. “There has been no process started with respect to any disciplinary action. Based on the reports we have read, Tiger’s comments related to the impact of the decision. We did not read them as being an unreasonable attack or being disparaging.”

Time of Round

Woods and Harrington began their round at 2 p.m. New York time and finished play at 6:03 p.m.
“We were not that far behind,” Woods said, “maybe five minutes or whatever it may be from the group ahead of us.”
Woods also said he has no regrets about naming Paramor, personally.
“No, because he’s the one who did it,” Woods said.
While Harrington, a three-time major championship winner, mostly blamed himself for the loss, he said it would’ve been better to be warned earlier in the round.
“I reacted poorly to the situation, and that’s my own fault,” the 37-year-old Irishman said in a press conference today. “It’s part of the rules that these things are going to happen. It would have been probably better if it happened earlier in the round.”
Harrington wasn’t prepared to follow Woods’s lead and question the ruling.
“I think it’s easier having won the tournament,”
Harrington said of Woods’s comments. “He can take the moral high ground and say what he wants. Having lost the tournament, I’m going to sit back. I’m going to take it on the chin and say it was my mistake.”

For Related News and Information:
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--Editors: Vince Golle, Larry Siddons.

Anyway, Paddy has earned a new fan/admirer in me... what a class act!

Of course, he still ranks below Tiger...

we only know TW and PH is late by 17 min. what about the rest of the field?? are they all fast?? If they are, then it is fair to time them. If the rest are not, same treatment should be given to the rest. this we do not know.

PH took it in his stride. if u are good enough, even that will not make you lose concentration... easy to say, hard to do...

Paddy, you rock!

Latest from Golf Channel..

TW said he was not fined by the PGA Tour.

Lamts18 wrote:

Latest from Golf Channel..

TW said he was not fined by the PGA Tour.

A lesson, nonetheless, for pros and aspiring golfers. Pace is not something to be taken lightly.

I'll tattoo that on my hand.

Opps... sorry for double posting... me bad ... failed to read G-Man's post..

Technospaz wrote:

Lamts18 wrote:

Latest from Golf Channel..

TW said he was not fined by the PGA Tour.

A lesson, nonetheless, for pros and aspiring golfers. Pace is not something to be taken lightly.

I'll tattoo that on my hand.

Agree, I once lie on my back and stared at the sky smoking my cig during a club's open. Took 6 hrs to finish.
Last month I did not even want to finish the last nine holes at Marina.

my record was in thailand 2 years back....

6 and a half hours and we finished 10 and half holes....its not the pace of play but the club was greedy and packed triple the no of golfers to make money.

we had lunch twice and it was the most horrible day of my golfing life.

DGman

wow's that a record. 6.5 for 10 holes. By the time you finished....it would be 9hrs or more.

DGman wrote:

my record was in thailand 2 years back....

6 and a half hours and we finished 10 and half holes....its not the pace of play but the club was greedy and packed triple the no of golfers to make money.

we had lunch twice and it was the most horrible day of my golfing life.

DGman

Course marshals were zzz'ing? Then again, if the Club allows it, what can the players do?

The slowest I've had was several years back when we played behind a group of ladies. They were so slow. But, cannot do anything. They were all mothers/aunts of my flightmates. I guess they were slow because they knew it was us in the flight behind. Couldn't do much. Just tcss. One of my flightmates even had time to go pang sai at the halfway hut.

never finish..go home after 10 and half holes, call the tour operator and gave him hell.

Played at Palm Springs on monday, flight in front have 2 beginners, 5 of us went and we play with 5 in a flight, and we still not very far off from them. Marshal came to us as the flight of 2 behind us complained. We let them pass thru and we split back into 2 flights. took us abt 3 hrs to finish the first nine. Same story for the 2nd nine...

They pack too many flights in.... almost not enough buggy

All the story told here can piled into SINGAPORE GOLFERS HORROR STORY....

Yeah, DG_Man. That was a truly terrible experience you had. 10 hours! Jumpin J C!

FYI, I played 18 in 5:45 hours under the hot Sentosa Island sun (Tanjong Course) earlier this year.

Our two buggies were the second to last flight of the informal competition, and the group in front were very slow cos they were betting money each hole. I should have brought a book to read such as Leo Tolstoi's "War & Peace" in between tee offs.

Another time playing overseas, one guy in our group (who BTW I learned is a local 'infamous golf celeb' of sort) had to be the slowest golfer I ever played with.

It took him easily up to three minutes sometimes to set up for shot--always changing position or 'frozen' for eons before club slowly starts moving. Even the caddies started yawning and looking at their watches.

Funny but after his stroke, he would hurry other players to speed up play!

Such is golf and life.

CK

How I wish John Paramor can be the marshal of Poresia