After a long weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Tiger Woods hoists the trophy for the coveted Players Championship. After shooting 13-under-par for the tournament, and staying under par for each of the 4 rounds of play, Woods was able to win his second Players, his first was won back in 2001. Like many sports events, there was controversy surrounding the win, especially when Woods took a drop on the 14th hole in his Sunday final round. His tee shot hooked left just at a fairway bunker into a lateral water hazard. The issue when taking the drop was whether or not Woods took it where the ball actually went crossed the hazard line, going into the water. NBC commentator Johnny Miller made a comment when Woods was taking the drop stating that he thought he was too far forward from where he should have taken his drop. However, Wood's playing partner on Sunday, Casey Wittenburg, sides with Tiger, saying that they both agreed that he took his drop from where the ball crossed into the hazard.
This was not the only issue to strike Woods during the Player's Championship. On Saturday, while matched with Sergio Garcia, Woods took a 5-wood from his bag on the par-5 second hole to play a high risk shot from a grouping of trees. When Woods retrieved this club, the crowd started to cheer wildly for him. Meanwhile, 50 yards away, Garcia was taking his shot, and made poor contact, resulting in a poor hit. This led Garcia to an unsatisfactory bogey on the par-5 second. After the round concluded, Garcia was interviewed during which he stated that the noise the crowd made did have a negative impact on his shot. He also slightly hinted at the possibility that Tiger Woods instigated the crowd to cause Sergio to make a mistake so that he could have an advantage. Here are the facts though: Brian Nedrich, a marshal that was at the second hole, stated that he himself told Woods that Garcia had in fact hit, allowing him to take his club out. Also, the noise from the crowd was generated right before Garcia's swing finished, specifically during the back swing. This means that he could have stopped his shot from happening, which is feasible during the slow, drawn out back swing.
There is still controversy though, as the head Marshal at the Players for the section of the course Woods was on, John North, told Sports Illustrated that there was zero communication between Woods and the marshals on the course when this incident took place. As with any sport though, there will always be controversy, especially with the most famous players, as they are the ones who are criticized the most when they make a mistake. What happened at the Players may have been a communication problem. It could also have been a purposeful attempt for personal gain for Woods. But at the end of it, Tiger still defeated Garcia by six shots, so one bogey did not make the difference.
