For all the talk that Tiger is arrogant, this is one time where he respected the talents of the remaining golfers. It doesn't take a genious to figure out that 4 or 5 other golfers would not completely fall apart on what was the BY FAR the easiest stretch of holes in order for him to make a playoff. Had it been just one person, maybe he would have stayed, but he knew that Phil, Elk, VJ, Thomas, Davis etc wouldn't all mess up all at the same time. And he was right.
That said, had it been me, I would have stayed near by just in case. Not necessarily at the course, but close enough that I could have watched the leaders up thru let's say the 16th hole or so, where I could have made it in time if I saw that they were completly falling apart - which was in reality, was less than a 1% chance of happening. But that's just me. And I don't hold it against him for what he did.
It turned out that Tiger leaving a day early didn't hurt him but he's lucky. If the leaders had fallen to -2 (unlikely, but still a reasonable chance) Tiger would forever regret a "major" mistake.
At one point Tiger was " the leader in the clubhouse" at -2.......except he wasn't in the clubhouse. He was flying home to Florida. Did that make him "the leader in his private plane?"
I think Tiger's decision to leave doesn't really have anything to do with arrogance or what not. (As a sidenote, I don't believe people think of Tiger as being arrogant). It has moreto do with his pride. He's a champion. He's won plenty of Majors and he'll win plenty more. He's already proven this year that he's way ahead of everyone else when it comes to Majors. If this happened 1996 before Tiger won his first major, he might have stayed or as mentioned if there was just one person ahead of him. But Tiger knew there was no chance that 3 players were gonna falter. A champion of Tiger's caliber shouldn't sit around and hope that 3 guys make fools of themselves when the easiest holes on the course were left. He knew he didn't play his best golf this week and the tournament wasn't his. You can't win them all although Tiger comes as close as anyone. He made the right decision.
"These are the best players in the world,'' Woods said. "Look at who's on that board -- it wasn't guys who have never been there before. If you have guys who had never been there before, then it might have been a different story, but each one of those guys had won major championships.''
The fact that he left surprises me. It's not about respect, or who the players were. Granted, with the par 5's still to play, it was not likely he would get into a playoff, but you never know. If -2 had been the number, Tiger going home would have been just as bad a major championship gaffe as Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie.
Stewart Cink made a great observation, that perhaps Tiger's presence at the course might have affected the other players. Of course it would have been some gamesmanship, but imagine Tiger on the range hitting balls next to Phil. He would be well within the rules, and not disrespecting anyone.
Then again, maybe he was unable to switch his Jet Blue flight, and had to fly out on Sunday
August 17th, 2005, 06:16 PM
He was flying home to Florida. Did that make him "the leader in his private plane?" 
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