Tiger Woods is seen during the third round of the World Challenge golf tournament at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012.(Photo: Bret Hartman, AP)
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Clive Palmer is an Australian billionaire whose Palmer Coolum Resort has hosted the past 10 Australian PGA Championships. He’s been speaking out publicly in hope of keeping the tournament at his club for the foreseeable future.
He may want to use a different strategy.
In a contentious interview with The Australian[1], Palmer criticized members of the Australian PGA, put words in the mouth of Rory McIlroy and ripped Tiger Woods for no apparent reason.
The comments about Woods are likely to draw the most attention.
“Tiger Woods isn’t the No 1 golfer in the world any more. We don’t want to look backwards, we want to look forwards. So why would you get Tiger Woods here? I would prefer to have Peter Senior than Tiger Woods.
“I am sure Peter Senior could beat Tiger Woods on a good day. I am sure he could.
“Tiger Woods has improved a lot but he’s an emotional wreck and he’s not a good example for kids, anyway.”
Senior is a 53-year-old Australian who has excelled in his native country. He has won three Australian PGA Championships, most recently in 2010. Last week, he took the Australian Open title, becoming the oldest man to win the event. He hasn’t fared as well beyond Australia; his best finish at the U.S. Open was “CUT” in 1990. He has played one major in the past decade, finishing in a tie for 60th in the 2010 British Open.
So if Palmer doesn’t want to look backward, why would he want Senior to be in his tournament? If it’s all about the future, isn’t the 53-year-old the past?
Not that we should be parsing the statements of Palmer. This is the same man who is building a replica of the Titanic (cleverly called “Titanic II”) and is opening his version of Jurassic Park near the golf course, resulting in the following view on the ninth hole:
People stand near an eight-meter (26-foot) replica of a tyrannosaurus rex standing between the 9th green and the 10th tee at the Sunshine Coast resort course in south Queensland, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012.(Photo: Dennis Passa, AP)
Now that’s looking backward.
