Michael Cohen
LORNE RUBENSTEIN -- It's one big talkfest for the players when they come off the course, sweating and drippy and eager to get some grub and some rest. But no.
First they have to feed the beast. First they must talk about Tiger.
If looks could kill, well, suffice it to say that players have had enough of talking about Tiger. Talkfest? They want only to talk fast, or not at all, and for the fest to finish.
For evidence, I offer up the frustrated but still willing visage of one Steve Stricker, the number-two ranked player in the world. He's one spot behind you know who. He'll be one group ahead of you know who in the first round Thursday, and so you know who the media wanted Stricker to speak about after he came off Augusta National an hour or so ago.
What will it be like playing behind Tiger? Did you prepare for such a possibility? Do you think Tiger's return is good for the game? What did Tiger have for breakfast today? Whoops, nobody asked that.
Stricker looked exasperated. He was the deer caught in the TIger's headlights, as every player has been for months. No wonder Woods apologized to his fellow players during his press conference yesterday for all the questions they've had to endure over these last four and a half months.
Stricker, stricken with a desire to say "Let me outta here," stood up to the questions about Woods. He said he "is not in any position to talk about his personal life, and neither are you guys." We aren't? Of course we aren't. He said "It is what it is, you have to expect questions about him." He looked straight ahead, over the writers' heads. He looked to his left. He appeared to be planning an escape route.
"As soon as anybody can let it go, we're all ready to move on,"
Stricker, sweating and uneasy but still standing there, said. And then he moved on. Freedom. At last. The first round can't come fast enough for Stricker and his fellow players.