Tiger Woods blasts satirical Golf Digest piece by legendary Dan Jenkins
Tiger Woods did not take kindly to a satirical interview Dan Jenkins published in the latest edition of Golf Digest, and he wants to let everyone know about it.
Woods took to Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune on Tuesday, sharing his distaste for the piece.
"Jenkins faked an interview, which fails as parody, and is really more like a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination," Woods wrote. "Journalistically and ethically, can you sink any lower?"
The piece took aim at Woods in several ways, suggesting the former world No. 1 is cheap, likes to dismiss people who work for him and treats his friends poorly.
Here are a few examples:
Jenkins: I don't get it. For a guy who can certainly afford it, you've become famous for being a bad tipper. It's almost like you take pride in it.
Fake Tiger: I just don't understand why you're supposed to tip people for doing a job they're already getting paid to do.Jenkins: In many cases tips are expected to be part of their salary.
Fake Tiger: So let 'em go find a better job.
And ....
Jenkins: Not sure you're aware of this, but back when you were at the top of your game I was also the guy who said only two things could stop you from winning more majors than Jack: injury or a bad marriage.
Fake Tiger: You wrote that?Jenkins: In a moment of brilliance, yes.
Fake Tiger: You nailed it.
Most of it was pretty tame, though Tiger didn't seem to think so.
"I like to think I have a good sense of humor, and that I’m more than willing to laugh at myself. In this game, you have to," Tiger wrote.
But ...
"All athletes know that we will be under scrutiny from the media," he continued. "But this concocted article was below the belt."
Jenkins hasn't held Woods in high regard for years and is thought not to care for the 14-time major winner who has not given Jenkins much face time in his two-plus-decade career in the golf spotlight.
In 2010, Jenkins wrote publicly of his efforts to get to know Woods.
"I once made an effort to get to know the old silicone collector," Jenkins wrote. "Tried to arrange dinners with him for a little Q&A, on or off the record, his choice. But the closest I ever got was this word from his agent: 'We have nothing to gain.'"
Woods isn't buying this as an excuse.
"Frustration or resentment because I have not been more available to him should not give him a license for an underhanded attack on me as an athlete, as a professional and as a person," Woods said.
However, this isn't the first time Jenkins has parodied Woods, albeit it is typically not in the form of a fake interview (even if advertised on the magazine's December cover as such). The publication has been more vocal in its critiques of Woods, Tiger feels, since he parted ways with the magazine as a playing editor in 2011.
"Funny they didn’t think this poorly of me when I worked with the magazine," Woods said.
Woods, who will return from back ailments at his Hero World Challenge on Dec. 4, wrote that he's accustomed to what he feels are incorrect reports or vicious columns -- a certain 2013 column by Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee about a rules situation at that year's Masters comes to mind -- but feels this Jenkins piece went too far.
"The sheer nastiness of this attack, the photos and how it put false words in my mouth just had to be confronted," he said.
Perhaps all true, but Woods' retort merely gives more publicity to a story that, for the most part, had gone unnoticed. At the outset of Woods' condemnation, he asked his audience if they had caught Jenkins' most recent work. He then says he hopes not. Many will now that he's broached the subject of the line between satirical humor and a vicious hit-piece, however fake it was.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
