Tiger throws driver into gallery in disgust....

[mn723]

During the 3rd round of the Australian Masters Tiger Woods hit a poor tee shot and proceeded to throw/slam his driver into the ground and it shot into the nearby gallery. On camera it seemed as if Tiger was more concerned with the physical status of his driver after the incident than he was with the status of any gallery members that could have been hit by his club toss.

Tiger continues to become more and more of a selfish guy with an attitude problem on tour with his temper tantrums. I have to assume that Jones, Nicklaus, Palmer and Player are shaking their heads. Tiger may be the best, but he needs to grow up.

[wedstuntpuller]

That is pretty ridiculous, I haven't been able to watch it on TV as i'm at work tonight, just watching the live updates online and it seems he is doing pretty poorly... but no excuse for that from ANY pro, much less the #1.

[Smiffy]

Another thread asks the question "Jack or Tiger. Who's the greatest?"

The example above gives a clue as to why I answered "Jack"....

[kris]

He has his moments, just like everyone else.

[groovezilla79]

He has his moments, just like everyone else.

So just how many times have you seen or heard of this happening on the PGA?? Here's a hint, if you do a quick Google search for PGA Golfer throws club EVERY hit is for Tiger. TPC Boston, Barclays, Deutsche Bank to name a few.

Also, to say "everyone does it" is not true. I've played this game for 22 years. I, nor anyone I've ever played with, have ever thrown a club no matter how bad we've played. If someone ever did in front of me, I'd probably ask them to leave or pick up and leave myself. Maybe that's just the military family upbringing in me. One time, when I was about 14, I slammed an iron into the ground, taking a chunk of grass out of the tee box. My father made me replace the grass.... then proceed to sand every divot on that tee box and fix every pitch mark on the green. I can only think what Earl Woods would have said or thought if were alive to see Eldrick pull this sh**. Although the PGA doesn't have enough balls to do it, I think Tiger needs to have some sort of fine/punishment for this kind of behaviour. I haven't been able to find any articles on the Austrailian Masters, but if it did happen, Tiger is lucky the Austrailian people are so laid back. If he would have pulled that stuff in California or New York, you can bet your a** there would be a lawsuit happening. It's one thing to throw a club, but for it to go into a gallery... wow. just wow. As you can tell this is really hitting a sore spot for me so I'll stop now.

[timwalsh300]

I have to assume that

I don't know about Nicklaus, Palmer, or Player, but here is a passage from Mark Frost's book,

The Grand Slam - a Bobby Jones biography...

But just prior to that, dissatisfied with his approach shot, Bobby had thrown his club back toward his bag, lying on the ground near the gallery. The club glanced off the bag, bounced up, and hit a female spectator in the lower leg... Walker [USGA President] warned: "You will never play in a USGA event again unless you learn to control your temper."

Sound familiar?

Tim

[Matt M]

I'm a big Tiger fan have been since his US ams, but this club throwing has started to get out of control. I think this year Tiger seems to be more agitated more than in the past, probably because of the way the year has played out. Throwing a club and having it end up in a gallery is unacceptable, some one could have gotten hurt and for what. Tiger doesn't need more money, or fame, he does need to remember the world he is living in is a world a lot of golfers would be willing to trade places with him. Tiger needs to step back, take a deep breathe, and take a look at the whole picture. I'm sure his game will come back it always seems to, but if it weren't to, then he still has had one if not the greatest rides in golf history. I for one enjoy and enjoyed watching it, just don't finish it with a loss of your temper. I find just dropping the club at the finish of your backswing helps stop the urge to fling it down the fairway.

[iacas]

I found it pretty ridiculous. I've not cared about Tiger's actions in the past because they've not actually gone near people. This one went into the crowd, and that's where the line exists in my book.

If I had been in the crowd I might have held tightly to his driver and said "you threw it, I'm keeping it." Or I might have said "You owe all of us an apology."

It seems he'll need something like that to wake him up. Again, I have't cared one way or the other about previous incidents, but his control's been getting worse. Verbally he's been better - you don't hear him use the same strength curse words - but that almost seems to be bubbling up into more physical expressions of disgust.

I continue to not care about throwing a club at a golf bag (away from people), saying "goddammit," etc.

[Zeph]

Steve should've been ready with a punching bag after each shot Tiger hits. At least with any wood or driver.

I agree that his club throwing/smashing has gone over the line. To smash it into the ground after a bad drive now and the I'm fine with, but not letting it go so it can bounce off into the crowds. I've seen it once or twice before where he's thrown the driver and it's bounced towards the crowd, but never into it like this time.

[KillaK]

I like Tiger but I've been noticing his outbursts for a while. I think he def. gets away with it because of who he is - I just dont see other players consistently throwing tantrums the same way.

I also dont know if it comes from that fact that hes a perfectionist or that in his mind hes believes hes so so good that the idea of hitting a bad shot is something he cant deal with - like he believes every shot should be perfect.

I gotta say I would be annoyed if I played a round with a guy on the weekend that reacted like that EVERY time he missed a fairway or a green.

[NormH3]

I'm not going to judge the guy, but lets face it, there are more cameras and reporters following this guy then any other. When Joe Schmo tosses a club, nobody cares. That doesn't make it right, but at the very least, he should probably show a little regret for his action.

[Golf'nBiker]

He's a pompous, arrogant a*shat. I don't kno his dad personally, but I do kno his type, and I'm certain LTC Earl didn't teach him this behavior. I wonder how HIS GOLF EMINENCE will feel if his kids follow this lead. So if the struck spectator would have bent this club to look bananna shaped how he'd have acted.

[ddalet]

So just how many times have you seen or heard of this happening on the PGA?? Here's a hint, if you do a quick Google search for PGA Golfer throws club EVERY hit is for Tiger. TPC Boston, Barclays, Deutsche Bank to name a few.

Dude loosen up. People that are that tense and rigid start wars. Ok maybe jack didn't throw a club... but Bobby Jones did, so did Ben Hogan. Sometimes when you demand perfection and you fail, your character gets upset. Perfectly natural. Tiger is as good as he is because he demands it of himself. If he were to expect mediocrity, there wouldn't be much to be upset about would there? If he is doing it too much, someone should talk to him about it.

[SIWSMLEG]

I think that this is being made into a bigger deal than it really was. First, it looked as though he just hit his club into the ground and it took a wild bounce into the gallery, it wasn't as though he threw the club into the gallery as the thread title suggests. Second, Tiger is human and gets frustrated after a bad shot like many do. While his actions are less than appropriate, especially as he is in a position of influence, the conditions and stress of professional athletics can lead a highly competitive person to outbursts of frustration at times. Finally, this is not just a golf related situation, there have always been athletes that have temper issues (i.e. McEnroe), but that is human nature as there are non-athletes with similar problems.

[wubskis]

Maybe that's just the military family upbringing in me. One time, when I was about 14, I slammed an iron into the ground, taking a chunk of grass out of the tee box. My father made me replace the grass.... then proceed to sand every divot on that tee box and fix every pitch mark on the green. I can only think what Earl Woods would have said or thought if were alive to see Eldrick pull this sh**.

I didn't have a military upbringing, but I uphold the same standards. I think it pertains more to "wasn't brought up as a spoilt a-hole." I remember playing my first round at a more "upmarket" course as opposed to the muni's I was accustomed to trawling round with my dad when I was 14-15 or so, and I did pretty much the same thing. Approach went awry, my club found the ground, and he picked up and demanded we leave that instant, on the third hole or so. If I didn't leave, I was stuck ~20 miles from home with no ride.

Since then, I've learnt my lesson. Sure I still get pissed if something goes wrong when I know it should have been a cakewalk to pull off, but I don't show it as visibly anymore. I have no problem with other people swearing as long as they're not yelling or making a ruckus, but club throwing is out for me. Maybe it's because since I spent some money on a much better set, I don't want them to get damaged and if I was the one to damage them I'd just feel like a moron. I mean hell, Rod Pampling screwed up an approach shot yesterday and I'm pretty sure I heard him say "f-ck's sake" before noticing there was a camera behind him. No club throwing, no hissyfit. He was laughing at the time. I remember reading on here the advice "never follow a bad shot with a stupid shot." Perfectly sound advice, and it's helped me by just thinking of that and drawing out a smile. Laughing at myself and brushing it off is the one way I can cope with these kinds of events. If you can't laugh at yourself, you're expecting too much and you're bound to crash and burn.

[bogeyhitter25]

I can't stand seeing him throw clubs. He's making hundreds of million dollars a year! He's got nothing to worry about. Now if it was a guy trying to survive on mini-tours with a few hundred bucks in his pocket I can see getting upset, but there's no excuse when your making hundreds of million dollars each year.

[bman1313]

Although the PGA doesn't have enough balls to do it, I think Tiger needs to have some sort of fine/punishment for this kind of behaviour.

The tour does have the balls to fine him. He is probably the most fined player on tour for his remarks, cursing and hissyfits. The tour does not make these things public.

[iacas]

I like Tiger but I've been noticing his outbursts for a while. I think he def. gets away with it because of who he is - I just dont see other players consistently throwing tantrums the same way.

Define "gets away with it." Every time Tiger spits someone starts a forum thread. And he's fined more than any other player on the PGA Tour... that's as good as confirmed.

He's not "getting away with it." If nothing else, other players get away with their behavior far more frequently than Tiger does because they're not on TV.

I think that this is being made into a bigger deal than it really was. First, it looked as though he just hit his club into the ground and it took a wild bounce into the gallery, it wasn't as though he threw the club into the gallery as the thread title suggests.

I watched it live. He finished his follow-through, and in unwrapping the club from around him, threw it down and forward. It was a visible, obvious "threw." No doubt he tried to throw it in front of him, but golf clubs are weighted funny and they bounce funny, and it didn't work - it bounced sideways into the crowd after flying farther left than he probably "thought" it would go.

"Thought" in quotes since his action clearly didn't involve much actual thinking.

Second, Tiger is human and gets frustrated after a bad shot like many do. While his actions are less than appropriate, especially as he is in a position of influence, the conditions and stress of professional athletics can lead a highly competitive person to outbursts of frustration at times.

Which is why I draw the line of non-concern between shouting "goddammit Tiger" or burying a driver head in the ground and actually throwing a club that ends up IN the gallery.

I don't think the guy needs to be a saint - I think he wouldn't be Tiger if he was - but his physical expressions of anger have gotten worse through the years, it seems, and are now crossing my own personal line.

The tour does have the balls to fine him. He is probably the most fined player on tour for his remarks, cursing and hissyfits. The tour does not make these things public.

Plus, he's not playing a PGA Tour event this week...