The Golf Jock

Johnny Miller was forced to apologize for his on-air comments about Rocco Mediate. During the final round of the 2008 U.S.Open, televised on NBC, Miller said that Mediate “looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool.” Later on he also said, “Guys with the name ‘Rocco’ don’t get on the trophy, do they?”

In his apology, Miller said the comments had “absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity.”

Mediate, a 45-year-old Pennsylvanian, is of Italian heritage.

At the time Miller made the comments, Mediate held a one-stroke lead over Tiger Woods with only a few holes left to play on the difficult Torrey Pines setup.

In a statement through NBC (which they most certainly forced him to make), Miller said:

“I apologize to anyone who was offended by my remarks. My intention was to convey my affection and admiration for Rocco’s everyman qualities and had absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity. I chose my words poorly and in the future will be more careful.”

I believe Miller. Johnny is a former player, and a golf phenom. But he still identifies with the players. He knows them and knows what’s going on in their heads. He’s out there before the broadcast talking to the players. It would be absolutely ridiculous to think that Miller had any kind of malicious intentions with his comments. They were “poorly chosen” words considering the politically correct environment we live in. They were “poorly chosen” words considering that Tiger Woods draws a huge non-golf savvy audience who doesn’t know that Miller is a former player and is on friendly terms with most of the current players.

Miller says some harsh things about players at times. He can be caustic about a bad swing or a missed shot. He can also be playful with player quirks and amazed at some of the great shots he witnesses.

Johnny Miller isn’t my favorite golf announcer, but I think he’s in tune with the players. At times he is brutally honest. But to suggest that he was disrespecting Rocco Mediate is totally ridiculous. Those who took it wrong are the real losers in this story.

Okay, it’s really easy to second guess. I get it.

But the fact is, Tiger made a mistake.

I’m not talking about the fact that he continued playing in the U.S. Open on a hurt knee. I actually applaud him for that.

I’m talking about his decision to get knee surgery right after the Masters.

The key word here is “decision.” The surgery was not absolutely necessary at that point. He elected to have it done.

You might argue that his decision to continue playing in the U.S. Open was a worse decision. I would disagree. Here’s why.

Once Tiger made the decision to play in the Open, he made a commitment. He did what is lacking in a lot of people these days – he stuck with his commitment. He knew he may never get another chance to play in a major so close to home, let alone at Torrey Pines. He gutted it out and gave us a dramatic and thrilling victory that will surely go down as legendary. It may not have been “smart,” but it wasn’t a mistake.

The mistake was messing around with the knee in the middle of the season. He should have waited until the Fedex Cup was over in the Fall, or at least until the British Open was over. It would have allowed him to play in all the majors this year and would have given him a great chance to properly heal during the off season and prevented the major damage inflicted to his knee by playing on it too early.

I’m not saying his knee wasn’t hurting him right after the Masters. I just don’t think it was so bad that it had to be invaded with a knife. After all, on that knee he had already won 5 tournaments this year and had, at one point, the entire golf community asking the impossible question: “Could Tiger go undefeated for an entire season?”

Other golf pundits were saying this could be the year that Tiger won a real Grand Slam.

By not winning the Masters, that blew that possibility out the window. I think it also clouded Tiger’s judgment.

Look – I’m not trying to get into Tiger’s head. I’m not trying to second guess him. But let me ask this question: If Tiger had won the Masters, do you think he would have elected to get surgery on his knee two days later?

Me neither. That’s my point.

In the meantime, he missed the Players championship, regarded by most tour players as the 5th major, as well as Jack’s tournament (the Memorial) which is referred to by many as nearly as important as a major. And he seriously jeopardized his chance to even participate in the U.S. Open at a venue that he virtually “owns” (having won at Torrey Pines over a half-dozen times on tour). He made the decision with a calendar right in front of him, knowing he would miss all that, and knowing that it would be really tight trying to heal by the U.S. Open.

I like Tiger. I’m not dissing him here. I think he makes golf exciting to watch. He’s made the game more popular than ever. He’s made a lot of people filthy rich, including agents and caddies and Nike employes – and especially golfers like Rocco Mediate. Because of Tiger, Rocco made more money (and will continue to make more money with the exposure) by coming in 2nd place to Tiger at the 2008 U.S. Open than he had made his entire career before Tiger came along.

So Tiger is good for the game. That’s why his season ending surgery hurts so bad. It’s not just about Tiger. It’s about the whole tour and about the golf industry. And time will tell whether or not Tiger will ever be the same again.

That’s why I think Tiger made a mistake.