Tiger Wants to Move Ahead of Chamblee Controversy


According to his agent, Mark Steinberg, Tiger Woods is "moving forward" from the controversy spawned by an October 15 article in Golf.com written by Randel Chamblee.

Steinberg, speaking to AFP reporter Talek Harris at an appearance in Singapore, said the top-ranked player in the world was finished discussing the matter.

"We're not going to comment any further, we're done," said Steinberg, as Woods held a clinic for young golfers and dyslexic children at the Marina Bay Sands casino-hotel. "We're done speaking about it. I've got a lot of work to do ahead of me and Tiger's got a lot to do ahead of him, so we're just moving forward."

The firestorm was created when Chamblee, also a Golf Channel analyst, gave Woods an "A" for his performance last season in his article then struck the grade through and replaced it with an "F," adding that Woods was "a little cavalier with the rules" a couple of times in tournaments.

Early last week, Chamblee, a former Tour player, backtracked in a series of 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."

Then later in the week, in the latest episode of a saga with several twists and turns, Chamblee resigned from Golf.com. He remains with Golf Channel.

Woods did not speak to the media during his Singapore appearance, which took place as the $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions was underway in Shanghai, China. His non-entry in that World Golf Championship event drew the ire from the tournament sponsor, HSBC, mainly because Woods was paid several million dollars for appearances in an 18-hole exhibition with Rory McIlroy last Monday and later in Macau.

Steinberg told Harris that Woods had known for "more than a year" that he wouldn't be playing in Shanghai. Steinberg also noted that he wasn't certain Woods would be playing next year in the tournament as his schedule hadn't been finalized.

"We had a number of other corporate engagements that I've had scheduled for quite some time, well over a year, throughout Asia," Steinberg said. "It was just a straight conflict, that was it . . . We've had a terrific relationship with HSBC for many, many years. It's strictly a scheduling issue."