By Torleif Sorenson on 12/4/13

2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy is not afraid to share his opinions and thoughts, even if golf fans don't necessary agree with him.

In his latest op-ed for GolfWorld, the Aussie demonstrated this by tackling the Brandel Chamblee-Tiger Woods-cheating kerfuffle:

So I can't say I agree with what Brandel Chamblee had to say about Tiger. Not completely anyway. His was a pretty strong point of view, one I would hesitate to replicate when talking about anyone, never mind the best player of this generation. I certainly don't think Tiger is "cavalier" with the rules.

But here's the thing. The resulting backlash against Brandel was also unfair. While he used language that was, in places, too hyperbolic for my taste, the principle of him being able to share with us his expert assessment is too important to be abused.

To my mind, Brandel is one of the best things on Golf Channel. And let's be clear: He isn't employed to give us facts; he is there to offer opinion. So he should be allowed to do so. That's what frustrated me most about this entire affair: the idea that someone in the media should somehow not be able to call it the way he or she sees it. That doesn't sit well with me.

Then, in a bit of balanced feedback, Ogilvy took Tiger to task for his less-than-illuminating interviews:

Much of what went on between Tiger and Brandel could have been avoided if Tiger would give open answers to questions -- "real" interviews, not just "nothing" interviews. Imagine how much clearer everything could have been if he had sat down after the Masters or the Players or the BMW Championship and run us through exactly what went on and what he was thinking. Not doing so only encouraged all kinds of rampant speculation and generally ill-informed conspiracy theories.

Indeed, Tiger has done this before; he took several weeks before publicly responding to Fuzzy Zoeller's ill-advised "collard greens" joke following the 1997 Masters Tournament. His mea culpa "press conference" following revelations of his infidelity and cheating is a different matter, understandably. But it serves as another example of how Tiger is far less forthcoming with his thoughts and information than he really could be.


Ogilvy's opinion piece

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