Tiger Woods yesterday "fired back at longtime golf writer Dan Jenkins and Golf Digest" for a mock interview in the December issue of the magazine that characterizes Woods as "mean-spirited and cheap," according to Rex Hoggard of GOLFCHANNEL.com. The story is entitled “My Interview With Tiger" with an "asterisk before Jenkins’ byline that reads, 'Or how it plays out in my mind.'” The "imaginary Q&A ... addresses a number of subjects," including Woods' friendship with golfer Mark O'Meara and his ex-wife Elin Nordegren. Woods yesterday responded with a post on Derek Jeter's ThePlayersTribune.com, writing, “Whether it’s misreported information or opinions I think are way off base, I let plenty of things slide. But this time I can’t do that.” Woods also "published a letter his manager Mark Steinberg sent to Conde Nast, which owns Golf Digest." Steinberg in the letter wrote, in part, "Jenkins implies in the piece he was declined for an interview with Tiger. But no such request was made, at least not recently" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 11/18). GOLFWEEK's Brentley Romine noted the article was "intended as a satirical piece." However, it "depicted Woods in a bad light, including imaginary quotes such as 'I like to fire people' and 'I just don't understand why you're supposed to tip people.'" Woods wrote, "Journalistically and ethically, can you sink any lower?" Steinberg in his letter added, "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" (GOLFWEEK.com, 11/18).
NOT THE FIRST GO-ROUND: ESPN.com's Bob Harig noted Jenkins has "been a longtime critic of Woods, going back to when the 14-time major winner first turned pro" in '96. Among his "stated issues with the golfer is that Woods never would consent to a sit-down, one-on-one interview" (ESPN.com, 11/18). YAHOO SPORTS' Ryan Ballengee noted this "isn't the first time Jenkins has parodied Woods, albeit it is typically not in the form of a fake interview." Woods feels Golf Digest has been "more vocal in its critiques ... since he parted ways with the magazine as a playing editor" in '11. Woods wrote, "Funny they didn’t think this poorly of me when I worked with the magazine" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/18). Golf Channel's Damon Hack said the Golf Digest column is "nothing but an extension of the fact that Dan Jenkins is saying, 'I used to be able to talk to Arnold Palmer. I’d have a two-hour interview with Jack Nicklaus. I’d play golf with Ben Hogan. Tiger Woods has given me nothing about that.'" Hack later added Jenkins' "pen is the sharpest," as he has made satire "his calling card throughout his career." Hack: "This is a man who's written novels that have been turned into movies. He's a legend." Golf Channel's John Feinstein: "Dan Jenkins has been doing this to people forever and he does it better than anyone" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 11/19).
OVER THE TOP? GOLFCHANNEL.com's Jason Sobel wrote he had "two contrasting and conflicting thoughts" when he read Woods' response. Sobel: "The first: Chill out, dude. It was a satirical piece which obviously caricatured a few of your better known personality traits. It might have perpetuated stereotypes of you being a bad tipper or an ungracious employer, but it was hardly a character assassination." Sobel: "The second: Good for you, Tiger. If journalists expect you to be held to a certain standard, then you -- and other athletes -- should be able to turn that spotlight around and hold us accountable for what we’ve written about you. ... It's refreshing to read an unvarnished viewpoint on something that's bothering you." Sobel added, "Was he a bit over the top in his response to a column that was clearly written from a satirical standpoint? I think so, yes. Does he deserve to own a forceful opinion on something written about him that doesn’t echo his thoughts? Absolutely" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 11/18). CBSSPORTS.com's Kyle Porter wrote it is "pretty fascinating to watch Tiger, a notably private person, respond to Jenkins in such a public manner" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/18).
MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLE HILL: Golf Channel's Chris DiMarco said he read the Jenkins article and "didn't see it growing any teeth until Tiger kind of responded to it." DiMarco: "It’s hard to grasp that Tiger went on to this. He should have just, to me, let it go under the rug and it would have kind of just went away." Feinstein said Golf Digest Editor Jerry Tarde "should send a thank you note to Mark Steinberg. ‘Thank you for calling a hundred times more attention to this piece than it would have received had you not responded this way.’ ... The more attention you call to something like this, the better it is for the magazine" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 11/19). In DC, Marissa Payne wrote what Woods achieved with his article was to "goad Golf Digest to post the piece online" and put a "lot more eyeballs on the article he didn’t want anyone to read in the first place." The article previously has been "only available to print subscribers" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/18). USA TODAY's Christine Brennan writes instead of "ignoring a devilishly funny and scathingly accurate fictionalized portrayal of a Q-and-A that never actually took place," Woods "decided to tell the whole world to read it." Brennan: "Woods' tirade is not the length of a tweet, or even a paragraph. Rather, it's a nearly 600-word pout, self-absorbed and clueless, starting out with the hope that none of us has read the fake Q-and-A -- but ensuring that all of us now will" (USA TODAY, 11/19).
