Or anyone standing close to him on the putting surface.
Two weeks ago, after traveling halfway around the world to play in the Dubai Desert Classic in United Arab Emirates, Woods proved in one afternoon it might be OK to spit into the wind, just don't try to hit a golf ball in the wind while undergoing a swing change. (Now why didn't the late Jim Croce ever think of that?)
It probably delights many, given the travails that have framed his life since he treated his street like a fairway and drove into the trees outside his Orlando, Fla.,-area home, to see Woods struggle as he did in the final round at Dubai, shooting 75 and tumbling down the leader board almost as fast as his public approval rating. It kept intact his winless streak, which is at 15 months and counting.
Still, no matter how well he does or doesn't perform on the golf course, we were once again reminded of the type of person Woods really is, the person who Tom Watson said needs to show more respect for the game of golf. And, in this instance, for others.
It won't go down with the same reviled act of Sandy Alomar spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck. Or Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski spitting in the face of San Francisco 49ers receiver J.J. Stokes. But it also will not be remembered in the same manner as the classic "Seinfeld" episode where Kramer and Newman accuse former Mets player Keith Hernandez of directing his spittle at them.
With one thoughtless (he says) projectile of spittle, Woods created a maelstrom of controversy when, in a fit of disgust, he spat on the putting surface while marking his ball on the 12th green -- an action for which he was fined an undisclosed amount by the European Tour, which governs the event.
The problem is not that Woods decided to spit on the golf course, or even that he spit at all. After all, American sports fans are accustomed to seeing athletes, some of the most famous in the world, spit on football and baseball fields, or on any outdoor sports venue, for that matter.In this instance, it was the manner in which he spat, which is not to be confused with the way, say, a baseball player spits out pumpkin seeds in the dugout. And, worse, it was where he delivered his full-frontal saliva assault -- on the putting green, the most finely and meticulously manicured surface of the golf course, where even the most microscopic impediment is removed by a player so as not to interfere with the roll of the golf ball.
There is no free lift from that type of casual water.
And who wants to clean that off their ball?
In the world of golf, where greens are treated as shrines, Woods firing a loogie on the putting surface was the character equivalent of spitting on your living-room floor.
Woods apologized for his actions, saying he "wasn't thinking" when he catapulted his projectile after a missed putt. That, though, is what gets to the heart of the matter.
Those who don't think about actions they have committed have merely committed them reflexively, as an extension of their inner self. In other words, if Woods had thought about what he was doing, it would not have changed what he internally wanted to do; rather, it would have merely prevented him from doing what he did do.
Couple that with the expletives he still hurls on occasion and some of the ground thumps he has been known to angrily administer with his driver -- not to mention all his, well, you know -- and you get the picture. And, if you don't, you should.
When he was done with his round, Woods complained that the swing changes he has been working on with new instructor Sean Foley get exposed when the wind is blowing, as it did on the final day at Dubai. In one of the more bizarre explanations offered by the former world No. 1, he said, "It's fine when the wind is not blowing ... when the wind blows, I have to shape shots and hit shots differently."
And watch where you spit.
Good article, well done Geny.
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