Chamblee Resigns from Golf Magazine


In the latest episode of a saga that's already had several twists and turns, Brandel Chamblee has resigned from Golf.com after the fallout from his giving Tiger Woods an "F" in an October 15 article he wrote for the website.

Chamblee created the brouhaha when he gave Woods an "F" - despite Woods' five-win season - because of a series of rules violations during the 2013 season.

In the article in which he also graded 13 other PGA Tour players, Chamblee wrote down an "A" but crossed it out and replaced it with the failing mark, adding that Woods was "a little cavalier with the rules."

Last week, Chamblee, a former Tour player, backtracked in a series of on Twitter posts, writing, "My intention was to note Tiger's rules infractions this year, but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far."

The former PGA Tour player, who's also an analyst on Golf Channel, resigned from the website Wednesday, but will stay with the television network.

Woods had been silent throughout the controversy until Monday at Mission Hills Golf Club in China, where he played an 18-hole exhibition match with Rory McIlroy.

"All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward," Woods said before the match. "But then, I don't know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that's up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing as he didn't really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation.

"So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do."

In announcing his departure from Golf.com, Chamblee noted there's no affiliation with the site and Golf Channel. "Tiger and his camp, they're upset at Golf Channel," Chamblee said. "This column appeared on Golf.com. Nobody here at Golf Channel knew anything about it and my editor at Golf.com asked me to rewrite the ending when I sent it to him."

Chamblee also said that he has realized there was a conflict with working for Golf Channel and Golf magazine, which is owned by Sports Illustrated. Now that he has one employer, he remarked, "If Tiger and his camp have an issue with something I write, they will at least be yelling at the right people."

The president of Golf Channel, Mike McCarley, has yet to comment on the situation. It appears that Chamblee's announcement at the start of Golf Channel's "Golf Central" Wednesday broadcast was the network's response. Host Rich Lerner asked him some questions, which Chamblee answered by backing off his original assertion and saying that he doesn't have any ongoing problems with Woods.

On Tuesday, McIlroy, like Woods under contract with Nike, got into the flap by saying, "Yeah, I think Brandel was completely wrong. I don't think he has the authority to say anything like that about Tiger Woods," McIlroy said, according to Agence France-Presse.

"People wouldn't know who Brandel Chamblee was if it wasn't for Tiger Woods, so I am completely against what he said and I think he should be dealt with in the right way."

For the three previous Cybergolf articles on Chamblee and Tiger's alleged rules violations, visit http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/no_backtracking_by_chamblee, http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/chamblee_apologizes_to_tiger and http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/woods_speaks_out_about_chamblee.