It's rough work, being a golf journalist. Jetting off to the finest country clubs on the planet, dining on complimentary catered meals, spending afternoons strolling the earth's most beautiful green cathedrals. (Or not; there are some journalists who never leave the press tent. After all, it can get hot out there on the course, and it's hell on your allergies.)

Anyway, you know what stinks about being a golf journalist? The whole writing-a-story thing. Without having to actually do the job, being a golf writer would be the greatest job ever. Is there anything that can be done to help the poor overworked golf media?

Thanks to Waggle Room, now there is! Check out the Tiger Woods flowchart there at right; click on the image or right here to get the full version. Basic gist is this: since there are only two stories in golf: "Tiger played"/"Tiger didn't play" -- this flowchart lets you construct your own narrative for how each tournament affects the media standing of Tiger Woods.

For instance, if you run last weekend's loss to Phil Mickelson through the ol' flowchart, you end up with multiple handy excuses for Tiger's defeat -- the knee isn't 100 percent, Phil is Tiger's next challenger, and so on. Amazingly enough, those are exactly the reasons trotted out by the golf media and commenters!

Oh, and be sure to read the bottom line, which puts it all in perspective. Thanks, Waggle Room! I'm going to go write my entire 2010 series of posts now! 

Related: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods