Golf Writers Bravely Boycott Tiger Woods Redemption Spectacle

It’s the hottest, most exclusive event in their sport, but the Golf Writers Association of America is turning down their VIP passes to today’s Tiger Woods redemption spectacle, and not because they have decided to scalp their tickets. The GWAA unanimously voted to boycott the event yesterday evening with a strongly worded statement stating, basically, that Woods is not in a position to be giving the media orders. Vartan Kupelian, the GWAA’s president, commented to the press that the organization agreed that “to limit the ability of journalists to attend, listen, see and question Woods goes against the grain of everything we believe.”

It’s a slap in the face to Woods, sure, whose event, which his team insists on calling a “press conference” despite the lack of press and mandatory silence from the few lucky reporters allowed in. The minds behind this desperate plea for attention must be banking on the fact that Woods has been the face of his sport for so many years and, aside from that pesky three-month-old philandering scandal, kept a clean face during his tenure as such. Maybe they believed that SNL sketch where a drunken Jason Sudeikis, acting as the head of the PGA Tour, begged Woods to return to the sport as his sponsors dropped in quality from MasterCard and FedEx to Seltzer and “the letter Q.” Putting together a private event to remind everyone of his previous dominance in a sport where his moral capital is fully depleted— and calling it a “press conference”—is a clear message that Woods believed his own hype. Scheduling it during an actual golf tournament is nothing short of “selfish,” as former colleague Ernie Els described it. Yes, fellow golfers are taking notice of his self-absorption, now posing a danger to the sport, and watching people in his own field wholeheartedly reject his no longer justified ego is a karmic delight.

Sure, Woods’ indiscretions didn’t result in his talent diminishing or in the creation of new, more challenging rivals during his time off. They have nothing to do with the sport at all, nor do most of his detractors within the sport claim that to be the case. It’s the sense that Woods believes his own personal woes to be more important than an actual golf tournament, and that he is smart enough to get away with manipulating the media without giving them anything in return, that makes the entire affair (pun intended) so sinister. He has compounded to his moral flaws a cardinal sin in both the media and the sports worlds—putting himself above the trade.

He had no reason to believe he could not get away with this. No one quite expected that the GWAA (and hopefully the PGA tour will follow) to put the health and integrity of the sport above the potential commercial benefits of having Woods back in the spotlight. It is a risky move that can potentially cost the sport millions of dollars and viewers, but, ultimately, showing this level of respect to the golfers that are in it for the sport and not the spotlight will pay off in the long term.