Loose Impediments

Same Old Tiger (and Stevie)

The comeback is complete. The world is back to normal.

In winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Tiger Woods did what he always has done: He made an unbelievably clutch putt to win a tournament. Unfortunately, Tiger also did something else that has become his hallmark of sorts: the awkward victory celebration.

After making the putt, Tiger punctuates the win with a fist pump accompanied by an odd-looking leg kick in which the leg comes up as if it were connected to his arm, in the manner of a puppet. Then, he reaches for Stevie as if to give him a high five, but Stevie apparently had a more effusive celebration in mind. He swatted away Tiger's right hand and gave him a hug.

During his time off, one thing Tiger apparently didn't work on was his victory reaction. The awkwardness at Bay Hill called to mind other stilted Tiger-Stevie celebrations, like the ones from last year's U.S. Open and the 2005 Masters.

Here's my suggestion: The next time the pair are walking to the 18th green with a chance for a win, they really should discuss what they're going to do after the putt drops.

Tiger: "Stevie, after the ball goes in the hole, I'm going to turn to my left and pump my right fist. My right leg will probably come up as well, but I can't be sure exactly how. Make sure I'm finished so I don't accidentally punch or kick you before coming up and giving me a bear hug."

Stevie: "Sure, boss. But let's avoid any sort of high fives. You may be able to hit a ball squarely in the middle of a driver head that's moving at 120 miles per hour, but you seem to have trouble getting your right hand to make contact with mine from two feet away. Hugs from here on in."

Seeing Green

Golf is an honorable game. We play by the rules, calling penalties on ourselves if necessary. More importantly, we treat other golfers with a kind of respect and civility rarely found in the world at large. That kind of ethos is lacking in certain corners of the golf publishing industry, apparently.

Now, you may have heard of a book called A Course Called Ireland, written by Tom Coyne. It is Coyne's account of circumnavigating the Emerald Isle on foot, stopping to play many of the courses along the way. It is a fabulous premise for a book, which is precisely what I thought when I first heard about the project two years ago, several months before Coyne was set to embark on his epic journey.

So I contacted him and in addition to feeling him out on several "Great Courses of Britain and Ireland" features for LINKS on his return, I proposed that he write a weekly update from the road (sometimes literally, I imagine) for our Web site. Coyne seemed very receptive to the idea, and suggested I contact his agent, Dan Mandel.