Wow, Tiger got Dissed by Dan Jenkins?

[Gunther]

Hard to believe but Tiger is pissed, and rightfully so. Can't believe Golf Digest published and more surprised someone with Jenkins' stature would pull a stunt like this. Check out @TigerWoods's Tweet: https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/534799105122652160?s=01 Apologies if this doesn't come out right, doing it from my phone.

[iacas]

The tweet links to this:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/tiger-woods-straight-up-not-true-not-funny/

Quote:

Did you read Dan Jenkins’ interview with me in the latest Golf Digest? I hope not. Because it wasn’t me. It was some jerk he created to pretend he was talking to me. That’s right, Jenkins faked an interview, which fails as parody, and is really more like a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination.

Journalistically and ethically, can you sink any lower?

I've never cared for Dan Jenkins. Never found him funny. Never cared to read his stuff. Always felt it was so paper-thin, contrived, and extreme that it wasn't worth the time.

The last person he ever liked was Ben Hogan. And he still can't go five minutes without mentioning him.

Yippee, he's been to 573 consecutive majors. Guess what - he's old. Yawn.

Tiger has a right to be pissed.

Related thread: . Merge likelihood: ~ 50%.

The letter they sent:

http://da0e3020886cd34a055b-deaa59b767194abee73c9434564a33e9.r61.cf5.rackcdn.com/to-mr-townsend.htm

Quote:

November 12, 2014

Dear Mr. Townsend,

As the agency for Tiger Woods, we have a very serious inquiry about a piece that appears in the December issue of Golf Digest.

The story completely fabricates an interview between writer Dan Jenkins and Mr. Woods.  What we would like to know is how this was approved by editors and whether you, as the publisher, will stand behind this as in any way journalistically responsible? What standards and tenets were used for the story and accompanying artwork? It is not enough to claim that Mr. Jenkins is an “opinion writer” or that this is mere “parody” when under that guise Mr. Jenkins makes a litany of disparagements that are either baseless or demonstrably untrue.  Mr. Jenkins has long held a personal hostility for Mr. Woods, a fact that is common knowledge in golf journalism.  Knowing that, editors ought to be holding him to a firmer standard of responsible reporting, grounded in fact.  Instead, they have allowed him to realize his vendetta, concocting situations that arise out of his own grudges and frustrations.   There’s a word for writers that stoop to this underhanded technique: Fabulist.

We would also like you to account for the following:

•         Jenkins implies in the piece he was declined for an interview with Tiger.  But no such request was made, at least not recently. Shouldn't he have done that before making up an interview?

•         Digest staged an impersonating actor for photographs next to a Cadillac SUV, apparently to mislead readers. Is that sort of deception acceptable in Conde Nast publications?

•         Jenkins puts words in our client’s mouth saying variously, that he has contempt for tipping, enjoys firing employees, is unable to make business decisions, isn’t smart, disregards his friends, and is personally dishonest.  But these things aren’t jokes, they are character slanders and ones for which Jenkins has no basis whatsoever.  If there is some tangible way that Jenkins believes any of these things, then he ought to have the integrity to state it outright.

•         Would this story have even been considered if Tiger was still associated with Golf Digest?

•         Has any other person in golf been subjected to this treatment in your magazines? We can’t recall any piece remotely like this. We certainly can’t imagine any of the golfers that are frequent contributors to the magazine being attacked like this.

We are requesting a formal response to these questions on how journalistically or ethically this piece is acceptable, and we are also asking for a written apology.  We hope you’ll agree that what credibility the magazine still has requires it.

Mark Steinberg, Partner Excel Sports Management

Glenn Greenspan Vice President, Communications ETW Corporation

[Gunther]

Thanks for helping me out there bud. Didn't really have an opinion on Jenkins til today, he's a dirtbag. Always believed the hype but come to think of it, that hype came from other journalists so guess I shoulda known.

[MrDC]

It was a joke piece, that was clear, but it was a lame joke and just a vehicle to voice an opinion on Tiger about many things, can't say I enjoyed it in any way, but those that dislike Tiger probably enjoyed it, and GD did sink to a new low, but they'll sell some magazines and I guess that's all it's about.

[Golfingdad]

Love the last sentence of the Mark Steinberg letter to GD.

Quote:

We hope you’ll agree that what credibility the magazine still has requires it.

[caniac6]

You must have been reading my mind! I have always thought Jenkins was snarky, and felt superior to everyone because he knew Hogan. I think he is one of these old geezers that believe everything old is better than anything new.

[newtogolf]

Golf Digest must be desperate for readers if this is the trash they are resorting to publishing.  I guess if you're a Tiger hater you might have chuckled at the article in agreement with Jenkins portrayal but to anyone else it's borderline slander and Tiger is right for calling him out.

I guess we can add Jenkins to the list of golf reporters and analysts that felt the need to cheap shot Tiger in order to boost their career.

[legitimatebeef]

Does this Dan Jenkins even generate any money for the Golf Digest? In 2014 he seems like more of a liability than anything else. I for one still have not forgiven him for that stupid joke about Y.E. Yang and Chinese take-out a couple years ago.

[jamo]

Does this Dan Jenkins even generate any money for the Golf Digest? In 2014 he seems like more of a liability than anything else. I for one still have not forgiven him for that stupid joke about Y.E. Yang and Chinese take-out a couple years ago.

Probably a prestige thing.

[dsc123]

I was most surprised at how unfunny the fake interview was.  It ended up just being a bunch of personal attacks in the form of a question.

[newtogolf]

I was most surprised at how unfunny the fake interview was.  It ended up just being a bunch of personal attacks in the form of a question.

I agree, if you're going to do a parody at least make it funny.  As I said in my post above, maybe it's funnier if you don't like Tiger.

[turtleback]

The last person he ever liked was Ben Hogan. And he still can't go five minutes without mentioning him.

This is the one and only tiny piece of your excellent summary and judgement with which I disagree,  Jenkins was instrumental in the campaign to make the GOAT criteria number of majors won trumps everything.  So he liked Jack after he liked Hogan, the fickle, feckless, fool.

[Spitfisher]

Tiger and his agency were fools to acknowledge it, dumb, stupid and arrogant. He should have ignored it.

I read both pieces, the rebuttal letter, which he seems to be crying about it ( the fake interview) and the fake interview itself.....I think I could have written things a little funnier. the truth is I read it before the "Hot stove Tiger" discussion started. And I guess wasn't impressed with the fake interview enough to even comment on it anywhere- including here. It missed its mark with me. I knew without the article he (TW) was a cheap bastard first hand.

Look it at this way, had Tiger over the decades been a bit more open with the press, didn't come across as having the personality of a wet log and down played all the arrogance- his comment on the fake interview would have been simply ignoring or laughing with it.

The irony is most of his millions he earns is earned thru multimedia, including the press, web and video, so I guess he wants it both ways. When the bully in play ground is picking on you, how did you guys handle it?  Most of us ignored it and never gave the impression that his bullying bothered us, Tiger didn't go to the same schools we went to I guess.

I don't expect every one to agree with me, but basically tiger... suck it up.  and Mr Jenkins write about something else or at least partner with some comedians

[Lastpick]

I read the article and it isn't exactly my type of humor.  As Tiger and Elin have two children together, some of this is best left in the closet.  The rest of the article is just poor humor, but Tiger needs to toughen up.  Golf Digest does need to find some material for winter editions.

[InTheRough]

Tiger and his agency were fools to acknowledge it, dumb, stupid and arrogant. He should have ignored it.

I read both pieces, the rebuttal letter, which he seems to be crying about it ( the fake interview) and the fake interview itself.....I think I could have written things a little funnier. the truth is I read it before the "Hot stove Tiger" discussion started. And I guess wasn't impressed with the fake interview enough to even comment on it anywhere- including here. It missed its mark with me. I knew without the article he (TW) was a cheap bastard first hand.

Look it at this way, had Tiger over the decades been a bit more open with the press, didn't come across as having the personality of a wet log and down played all the arrogance- his comment on the fake interview would have been simply ignoring or laughing with it.

The irony is most of his millions he earns is earned thru multimedia, including the press, web and video, so I guess he wants it both ways. When the bully in play ground is picking on you, how did you guys handle it?  Most of us ignored it and never gave the impression that his bullying bothered us, Tiger didn't go to the same schools we went to I guess.

I don't expect every one to agree with me, but basically tiger... suck it up.  and Mr Jenkins write about something else or at least partner with some comedians

I get what you are saying here but think about it from Tiger's angle.  He has spent the past several years trying to rebuild his shattered public image and one of the major golf publications puts out a "joke' piece on him making false claims and basically painting tiger as a sociopath.  The piece really has no other purpose than to bash tiger and probably should not have been printed at all -- the whole thing is just a little classless and Jenkins and Golf Digest need to be given a blunt reminder of that.

Also love that last line from Mark Steinberg...brilliant

[Spitfisher]

I get what you are saying here but think about it from Tiger's angle.  He has spent the past several years trying to rebuild his shattered public image and one of the major golf publications puts out a "joke' piece on him making false claims and basically painting tiger as a sociopath.  The piece really has no other purpose than to bash tiger and probably should not have been printed at all -- the whole thing is just a little classless and Jenkins and Golf Digest need to be given a blunt reminder of that. Also love that last line from Mark Steinberg...brilliant

You can't teach stupid....he ( tiger) should have left it alone. It would not surprise me in the least if that rebuttle letter was a directive from tiger himself to his team. this guy lacks so much people skills, time and time again he demonstrates this. Yet this is another example of it. Any PR firm worth their salt would have asked tiger to reconsider this action. Ask yourself this for a moment , what if this fake interview was written in the Onion or national lampoon would team Woods drafted that letter? the onion doesn't write the word Fake in front of their articles, nor does a Saturday night live skit end with a disclaimer. It's presumed to be incorrect and hopefully humorous. Jenkins missed the mark with humor of the laughing kind, but he didn't leave out "Fake interview" in the title and context of his article. Tiger should have left this alone, instead he draws even more attention to it, well outside the subscription and GD web readers. "He has spent the last several years try to rebuild his shattered public image" well I for one think he just reminded people more of it. There was several bits in Dan's article that were completely factual, perhaps unflattering for tiger, but they were on target.

[iacas]

Ask yourself this for a moment , what if this fake interview was written in the Onion or national lampoon would team Woods drafted that letter?

Golf Digest isn't the Onion.

Plus, if it had been in The Onion, it would have actually been funny. It was just mean. It was a vindictive, mean article that Golf Digest gave to chop away at one of the greatest players of all time.

I'm with Tiger on this one. It was ridiculous and lame, and GD deserves to be called to the mat for it.

[Gunther]

I'm no Tiger homer but this was unprofessional, shallow and frankly, disgusting. I'm also with Tiger on his reaction. What would really make me happy is if The Masters banned Jenkins from their grounds next April for disrespecting a former multiple Masters Champion. In my mind this was much more egregious than anything McChord said those many years ago. Probably won't happen but I sure would giggle if it did.