Apparently even a fake Tiger Woods interview can cause a media stir.
Woods, who hasn’t played in a round since reinjuring his back in August, fired back Tuesday at noted golf writer Dan Jenkins over an “interview” published in the current issue of Golf Digest.
“When Tiger Woods returned to golf from his back surgery, the national media saw it as the greatest news flash since D-Day,” Jenkins wrote in the magazine. “This energized me so much I immediately tracked down Tiger and asked if we could do the interview we should have done years ago.”
The magazine made it clear that Jenkins never interviewed Woods, running a big “fake” headline on the cover in publicizing the story. In the piece, which Jenkins clearly intended as parody, he pokes fun at Woods’ reputation for being cheap and for firing those who have worked closely with him. Woods recently parted ways with Canadian swing coach Sean Foley, the latest in a line of swing doctors the golfer has worked with over his career.
“Why did you turn down previous interview requests with me?” Jenkins asks in the piece. Jenkins has Woods reply that the interview is about rebuilding “his brand,” at the request of his agent.
Apparently Woods was not pleased with the final result. Tuesday in Theplayerstribune.com, a website developed by recently retired New York Yankee Derek Jeter to give players an opportunity to talk directly to sports fans, Woods fired back at Jenkins.
“Did you read Dan Jenkins’ interview with me in the latest Golf Digest?” Woods asks at the start of the story. “I hope not. Because it wasn’t me. It was some jerk he created to pretend he was talking to me. That’s right, Jenkins faked an interview, which fails as parody, and is really more like a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination.”
Woods says the article failed on a number of levels.
“I like to think I have a good sense of humor, and that I’m more than willing to laugh at myself.”
“All athletes know that we will be under scrutiny from the media. But this concocted article was below the belt,” he says. “Good-natured satire is one thing, but no fair-minded writer would put someone in the position of having to publicly deny that he mistreats his friends, takes pleasure in firing people, and stiffs on tips—and a lot of other slurs, too.”
Apparently Woods wasn’t the only one upset about the article, which included an photos of a Woods-lookalike in the golfer’s traditional red golf shirt. Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, sent a letter to Conde Nast, which publishes Golf Digest, saying the fake interview is part of longstanding animosity between Jenkins and Woods.
“Mr. Jenkins has long held a personal hostility for Mr. Woods, a fact that is common knowledge in golf journalism,” Steinberg said in his letter. “Knowing that, editors ought to be holding him to a firmer standard of responsible reporting, grounded in fact. Instead, they have allowed him to realize his vendetta, concocting situations that arise out of his own grudges and frustrations. There’s a word for writers that stoop to this underhanded technique: Fabulist.”
Woods is expected to return to play at the Hero World Challenge at the start of December, a tournament that raises money for the Tiger Woods Foundation.
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