Tiger Gives Padraig an Out, But Everyone Misses the Point!

At the Bridgestone Open last week, as Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington were battling it out for the championship on the final few holes, the pair was told that they were taking too long to play before they teed off from the 16th. At this juncture, Harrington held a one shot lead over Woods, but a disastrous few strokes would land him a triple bogey to Woods’ birdie, turning the lead into a 3 shot deficit. After winning the tournament by four, Woods spoke about the rule’s enforcement, “"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. But he was on the clock."

That “pitch shot” was the one that Harrington dropped straight into the water in front of the green. Much has been made of Woods’ comment, including debates about whether he should be fined or not, or if the rule should be enforced when the final pairing is slugging it out for a championship. The problem is, too many people have completely missed the point of Tiger’s words. Quite simply, he was only trying to take some of the sting off Harrington’s devastating collapse. A humble and gracious move by a consummate champion was unfortunately misread by too many.

Moving past that, isn’t it great to see that after day one at the PGA Championship, the two are once again at the top of the leaderboard, with Woods at -5 and Harrington at -4? Although watching Woods scorch the field and run away with victories has its merits, it’s always fun to see him get pushed and challenged, and the three-time major winner, Harrington, has what the mettle to do so.