There's been a lot of nonsense spoken down the years.
It’s the kind of inexplicable babble that could come gushing from the mouth of Steve Williams, the Kiwi bagman, who managed to provoke condemnation on a global scale at the weekend with his incendiary comments on stage at a caddie’s banquet during the HSBC Champions’ event in China.
In case you were banished to the cellar for the last few days, the New Zealander reflected on his new employer Adam Scott’s win at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and said that he wanted to “to shove it right up that black a*******” having been ditched by Tiger Woods just a few weeks earlier.
Etched in print, it is appalling and increases in ghastly ferocity each time you pore over it. It has been suggested by one person in attendance on the night that the fearsome intent of the comment reproduced on paper doesn’t really equal the almost aloof nature of it when the words were uttered at the time. Whatever way you look at it, though, the words are desperate.
Williams was swift to acknowledge the glaringly obvious when he said, “I now realise how my comments could be construed as racist” but essentially claimed that the spirit of the evening -- a private shindig where everything was supposedly off the record -- made the whole affair fun and a bit of a joke. Well that makes it alright then.
As a public figure in this day and age of unwavering scrutiny, you have to be pretty daft to think that you can spout such an inflammatory sentence and then simply drift off into the night. In the ensuing maelstrom, all and sundry have had something to say. Woods, himself, was set to speak at a press conference in Australia this morning (late last night UK time) but it was anticipated that he would avoid the subject.
In the meantime, Williams has been brandished a racist thug while Scott has been lambasted for not sacking him on the spot. High ranking officials of both the European Tour and the PGA Tour declared that Williams’ words were “entirely unacceptable” but have insisted the matter is now closed.
Interestingly, both the tours have the power to punish any player or caddie deemed to have brought the game into disrepute. Woods, for instance, was fined £10,000 during the Dubai Desert Classic for spitting on a green, while John Daly was banned for six months by the PGA Tour for his drink-fuelled antics.
Given the growing furore sparked by Williams’ comments, the game of golf has already been dragged into the gutter by this incident. Yet, the lack of action from the higher powers makes it look like spitting and boozing have far more ‘disrepute’ credentials than a derogatory comment loaded with a racial adjective. Sexism, elitism and racism; the members of the anti-golf league must be rubbing their hands with relish.
“Steve’s not a racist,” said former Open champion Greg Norman of his former caddie, ahead of this week’s Australian Open, where Williams and Woods will come together. “We’ve all made stupid comments at stupid times. Unfortunately his stupid comment became global news. I know he probably regrets saying it.”
As a successful double act during a glory-laden spell polished with 13 majors, the Williams and Woods alliance stretched beyond the fairways. They were great friends, went on holidays together and Woods was the New Zealander’s best man at his wedding. You could argue that it be would hard to forge that kind of tight relationship if Williams was a ferocious racist. Yet, in the bitter aftermath of the duo’s acrimonious split, Williams well-documented arrogance and boorishness has been spewed out in an odious fashion.
Possessing all the public relations nous of a nuclear bomb, Williams is no stranger to lobbing verbal grenades into veritable minefields. Back in 2008, he launched into a withering tirade against Phil Mickelson and hissed that “I wouldn’t call Mickelson a great player ‘cause I hate the p***k”. And, in the wake of Scott’s Bridgestone success, he attracted plenty of ridicule when he hogged the limelight and jubilantly massaged his ego by declaring that “this is the best win of my career”.
This is why folk like Williams are probably better off just sticking to saying things like “you’ve got 212 yards to the front edge”.
Given the outcry and the growing clamour for punishment, he may not even get the chance to say that much longer.
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