Tiger Woods under fire for ‘crass’ prank on golf rival: ‘Unacceptable’
Tiger Woods has expressed regret over a prank that has divided the sporting world, with the 15-time Major winner forced to apologize after being condemned by fans. Woods came under fire after pranking his good friend Justin Thomas in the first round of the Genesis Invitational. Woods, who makes his long-awaited return to the PGA Tour at the Riviera Country Club on Thursday (Friday AEDT), was paired with world No. 7 Thomas and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy for his opening round.
The 15-time Major winner produced a late flurry of birdies stealing a lot of headlines on opening day, but it was his prank on Thomas that drew the most attention. The 47-year-old had already outperformed his compatriot more than once when Thomas put his shot off the fairway in ninth place into the rough.
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Woods, sensing his moment to laugh at Thomas’ expense, caught up with his rival as they headed down the ninth fairway before handing the 29-year-old a pack of tampons. Thomas batted it away as soon as he realized what had slipped into Woods’ hand, before both players laughed as they sauntered down the ninth.
The incident quickly divided the sporting world, with many fans claiming it was a sign that the competitive Tiger Woods of yore was back. Others just found it hilarious that Woods happened to be carrying a tampon in his pocket to pull the prank.
Critics including Sky Sports presenter Sarah Stirk called it a “crass” and “unacceptable” stunt by Woods, which they accused of reinforcing sexist stereotypes. While many on social media found it harmless fun, others insisted it did little to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation for women.
Tiger Wood’s stunt divides the sports world
“I’m a woman who works in sport. I’m passionate and love the game of golf. I think we’re all striving for equality and we’ve all seen massive strides that everyone is making when it comes to promoting women’s sport. Media exposure and increasing participation,” Stirk said.
“We want women’s sport to be on a pitch with men and I think this incident was hugely disappointing. I think it was awesome to be honest.
“They are two good friends. JT and Tiger Woods, good buddies, play a lot together. Tiger Woods has passed Justin Thomas. It was apparently a joke. ‘I passed you’, ‘you drive the ball like a woman’, practically the conclusion from the incident that happened which tells me women, women are inferior to men.
“‘I passed you’, ‘You drove the ball a shorter distance than me and that’s why women are inferior to men’. I think we don’t want to flaunt that in the world of sport. It was awesome , it was disappointing and I think a surprise on my part because he plays at Genesis on the PGA Tour. It’s a tournament he moderates.
After his second round, Woods apologized to everyone he had offended. The 47-year-old said it was no more than harmless fun between friends on the pitch.
“It was just meant to be fun and games and obviously it didn’t turn out that way,” Woods said after his second round at the Genesis Invitational. “If I offended anyone it wasn’t, it was just friends having fun.
“If I offended anyone in any way, I’m sorry. It was not intended that way. We just play pranks on each other all the time, and I don’t think it went viral that way, but between us it was — it’s different.”
Woods put a brilliant chip onto the green and nailed his birdie putt to go -1 with a four on Thursday’s par-5 opening hole at the Riviera. Unfortunately, he produced a bogey shortly afterwards that put him back on par, but golf fans were nonetheless delighted with the way the American champion started.
A television commentator described Woods’ yardage as “extraordinary” considering it was the first hole he had played in an official PGA Tour event in 884 days. The golf icon then returned to the red with another birdie on the 8th hole before falling back to one-over with a couple of bogeys on the back nine.
But in amazing scenes, Woods produced three consecutive birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th to end the first round at -2. The sensational finish left golf fans stunned and the 15-time Major winner went into his second round with a two-under from a strong position.
Woods failed to repeat his first-round exploits in the second round, where she fired a three-pointer to drop the rankings on Friday at the Riviera. It left the 47-year-old halfway through a one-over and close to missing the cut.
with agencies
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