For the fourth time since 2009, Tiger Woods was involved in a reckless driving incident last week that put his life and the lives of others in danger.
Woods was arrested and charged with driving under the influence as well as causing property damage. The legendary pro golfer’s reckless driving history is so extensive that the Golf Channel produced a full-screen graphic with a timeline of his accidents, and NBC accidentally showed footage of a previous crash during its initial coverage of this one.
Some in the golf media struggled with how to properly cover this incident, leaving no doubt that Woods has a serious problem that requires help, if for no other reason than the safety of those around him. But given his status in the golf world, it was hard for some journalists to come to terms with Woods the man, given his god-like status on the course.
Dan Rapaport, who hosts his own golf show for Skratch after leaving Barstool Sports, posted a video on social media in which he was practically in tears over the situation. He called it “another twist that none of us wanted to see,” but didn’t use that time to hold Woods accountable for his actions in a meaningful way. Many people took Rapaport to task for his reaction, including Barstool founder Dave Portnoy.
Rapaport appeared on Barstool’s The Yak on Monday and was asked about the video and the reaction to it, saying that he quickly realized things were not going the way he thought they would.
“As soon as I posted it, I was looking at the replies, and I was like, well, this is not going the way that I thought it would,” said Rapaport. “And then I took a shower. It was first thing in the morning. That’s why I said I was in Japan, because it was first thing in the morning. I’d gone to this Japanese karaoke thing the night before. So I was, you know, I had some beers the night before. I took a shower to try to clear my head, and then opened my phone and saw the scariest notification that you will ever see in your life. Dave Portnoy retweeting your video.
“I knew I was in for it.”
“I understand why people took it the way that they did. It was my genuine reaction. Before I came to Barstool, I worked at Golf Digest and… I did everything Tiger. So I was like kind of around him. I was there the day… when he got in the horrible car accident in 2021, I was there. So definitely a little bit of personal stuff wrapped up. But I rewatched it, and I totally understand why it went the way that it did.”
The sentiment in Rapaport’s initial video that rubbed many the wrong way was the idea that driving is how Woods feels normal, which some took as an excuse. The golf reporter explained what he meant by that.
“There was a line in the HBO documentary that was like, ‘Tiger f*cking loves scuba diving because he can just not talk to people,'” he said. “And I think the line in there, which is, you know, another line that is very sort of poetic, which will get clowned on the internet, is the fishes don’t know he’s Tiger Woods.
“If you think that there’s not guys in his circle who are like, ‘Tiger, we’ll get you a driver,’ and he’s like, ‘Shut the f*ck up, I’m driving.’ I think he’s had such a crazy life since he was— the guy was on national TV when he was 3 years old playing golf. He was a phenom forever. I do think that him driving and blasting ’90s hip-hop is probably one of his favorite things that he gets to do.
“Not defending him. He definitely should not be driving. There’s no excuse for driving impaired. He’s putting people at risk. But I was just trying to give some context to the situation. But it certainly got out of hand.”
The golf media still has work to do in understanding how to cover Woods appropriately. On Monday’s CBS Sports Masters press call, no questions were asked about Woods, who was rumored to potentially play in the tournament this year before the crash, until 54 minutes in, when Awful Announcing asked about him. The time for handling this 50-year-old man with a serious problem with kid gloves is over, and hopefully, others in the golf media world start to see it.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.