Smiting Drives - Watson has earned the right to roar at Tiger

09 Feb 2010 - 10:45:53

In my time covering golf I've had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Watson twice, and both times it was the humble writer of this blog, and not the golfing great with eight majors and 39 PGA Tour titles, who drew proceedings to a close.

On the eve of The Open last July, we spoke at length over the phone. It was a conversation requested with his management on a Monday, that happened on the Tuesday.

No blazing hoops to jump through, no palms to grease, no endorsement deals to figure into the equation.

It was a simple arrangement that harked back to simplier times. No-name writer interviews sporting legend.

Watson was as engaging as he was unguarded. With a return to Turnberry on the horizon, we talked mostly of his 1977 'Duel in the Sun' with Jack Nicklaus; the hero of that iconic day blissfully unaware he would live to conjure another.

Watson was everything I knew he would be - charming, eloquent and gracious. And despite the enormous demands on his time, he was still talking an hour later, when domestic demands intervened and I begrudgingly said my goodbyes.

"Great to talk to you Will," he said. "Maybe see you at Turnberry."

As a poorly-paid sports journalist, these are the experiences you live for - one-on-one conversation with a genuine great. Those who say meeting your heroes is always a disappointment have never met Tom Watson. Or Jack Nicklaus.

All of which brings us round to the pasting Tom dished out to Tiger Woods last week.

Watson cited Woods' bad language and club throwing and said he had failed "to carry himself (on the golf course) with the same stature as golf's other great players, like Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer), Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.

"He has to take ownership of what he's done. He must get his personal life in order," Watson continued.

"When he comes back, he has to show some humility to the public - if I were him, I'd first do an interview with somebody before going to a tournament. I'd say 'you know what, I screwed up. And I admit it. And I'm going to try and change. I want my wife and family back. I have to earn her trust back.'"

Watson was right on the money, and having spent a lifetime adhering to a strict moral code and promoting the good of the game to the world, he had every right to give Woods a rollicking.

Of course, one thing he didn't take into account was just how difficult it is to interview Tiger Woods. I've tried, and if you're not a close friend or, as Alanis Morrisette once sang "a friend with benefits" it just ain't happening.

My most recent attempt was early last year, when I received the following back from his management.

"Tiger doesn't really do one-on-one interviews, unless he's helping out a journalist friend."

Now that's a stance his people will surely need to address if Tiger is to smooth his way back into golf.  The world number one needs to open up, expose his flaws and follow the example of the greats who came before him.

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