Following his public criticism of a rules official in the wake of his win at the Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods is to be fined by the PGA Tour over comments made by the world number one.
Woods voiced his annoyance after both he and playing partner Padraig Harrington were put on the clock and given a slow play warning by officials on the par-five 16th hole. Woods claimed that the warning put Harrington off his game, causing him to rush three difficult shots and ultimately lose the tournament as a result.
John Paramor, the European Tour’s chief referee gave the warning to both players they were being timed and Woods said he told Harrington after the pair had walked off the 18th green: “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle.”
Defending his decision, Paramor claimed the pair was well behind for most of the back nine and were seventeen minutes late in arriving at the 16th tee despite being given time by officials to catch up.
Prior to the 16th hole, both players had gone head-to-head in a final pairing to rival that of the Woods/Mickelson showdown at Augusta earlier in the year with Woods clawing back a 3-stroke deficit to nose in front, before being pegged back by Harrington late in the round. However, following the warning both players missed the fairway off the trees and while Tiger pulled out a spectacular approach to birdie the hole, the warning appeared to rattle Harrington; a view supported by Tiger himself.
“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,” Woods said. “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.”
Harrington has himself admitted he felt rushed, but alluded that giving the final group preferential treatment would have been wrong.
The announcement that Woods would be fined was made anonymously by a PGA Tour official. The tour refrains from publicizing fines and breaches of discipline by its members.
