Newsday: Harrington curious about Woods rumors, too
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Padraig Harrington has won the British Open twice, won the PGA Championship, which makes him stand out from the crowd.
In other matters, gossip for example, Harrington's no different than the rest of us. He has a nagging curiosity.
"It's just part of life,'' conceded Harrington. "That's what we do. We're all interested in a bit of gossip and what's happening. And usually it's a long way from the truth.
"But it's part of human nature, I suppose.''
Harrington is in Southern California to play in the $5.75-million Chevron World Classic at Sherwood Country Club.
That's the tournament Tiger Woods hosts, the tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, the tournament at which this year Tiger Woods is a no-show.
On the Tuesday of the Chevron, Woods normally spends about 45 minutes with the media in what has been labeled his State-of-the-Tiger address.
This year, when the demand for a few words from Tiger never has been greater, he was 2,600 miles away, having sent his regrets.
Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade at 2:25 a.m. Friday outside his home at the gated community of Isleworth, a posh suburb of Orlando, Fla. That's a fact. Another fact is the Florida Highway Patrol has cited Woods for reckless driving and fined him $164.
Why he was hurtling out of his driveway long after midnight has been the root of the speculation, and a Las Vegas woman has asserted she had an affair with Woods.
Woods issued a statement after the accident claiming "the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.''
It is the rumor stuff that people, including Harrington, find fascinating. "I have not spoken with Tiger,'' Harrington said Tuesday. "I know very little about this, barring what I've been reading online. I've learned a few new Web sites this week.''
Whether one was TMZ, the Hollywood-based gossip site that has published stories embarrassing to Woods, he wouldn't say. But Harrington did say he's drawn to scandalous stuff much like everybody.
"You get drawn in by it," Harrington said. "But at times when you're involved in it, you can see how far away from the truth they get.''
Steve Stricker, who is also playing in the Chevron, went undefeated with Woods as his partner at the Presidents Cup, and their wives walked together in some of those matches. He usually gets a quick answer when he sends a text message from Woods. This time, not a peep.
"Since I haven't heard back, I imagine he's in -- I don't know the right word -- a lot of pain," Stricker said. "And I don't even know what that means. I don't know what it's all about. I just feel bad for the guy. He's getting hammered in the media."
"I haven't talked to him," said Mark O'Meara, who took him under his wing when Woods turned pro at age 20 in 1996. - With AP
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Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Special to Newsday
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Padraig Harrington has won the British Open twice, won the PGA Championship, which makes him stand out from the crowd.
In other matters, gossip for example, Harrington's no different than the rest of us. He has a nagging curiosity.
"It's just part of life,'' conceded Harrington. "That's what we do. We're all interested in a bit of gossip and what's happening. And usually it's a long way from the truth.
"But it's part of human nature, I suppose.''
Harrington is in Southern California to play in the $5.75-million Chevron World Classic at Sherwood Country Club.
That's the tournament Tiger Woods hosts, the tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, the tournament at which this year Tiger Woods is a no-show.
On the Tuesday of the Chevron, Woods normally spends about 45 minutes with the media in what has been labeled his State-of-the-Tiger address.
This year, when the demand for a few words from Tiger never has been greater, he was 2,600 miles away, having sent his regrets.
Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade at 2:25 a.m. Friday outside his home at the gated community of Isleworth, a posh suburb of Orlando, Fla. That's a fact. Another fact is the Florida Highway Patrol has cited Woods for reckless driving and fined him $164.
Why he was hurtling out of his driveway long after midnight has been the root of the speculation, and a Las Vegas woman has asserted she had an affair with Woods.
Woods issued a statement after the accident claiming "the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.''
It is the rumor stuff that people, including Harrington, find fascinating. "I have not spoken with Tiger,'' Harrington said Tuesday. "I know very little about this, barring what I've been reading online. I've learned a few new Web sites this week.''
Whether one was TMZ, the Hollywood-based gossip site that has published stories embarrassing to Woods, he wouldn't say. But Harrington did say he's drawn to scandalous stuff much like everybody.
"You get drawn in by it," Harrington said. "But at times when you're involved in it, you can see how far away from the truth they get.''
Steve Stricker, who is also playing in the Chevron, went undefeated with Woods as his partner at the Presidents Cup, and their wives walked together in some of those matches. He usually gets a quick answer when he sends a text message from Woods. This time, not a peep.
"Since I haven't heard back, I imagine he's in -- I don't know the right word -- a lot of pain," Stricker said. "And I don't even know what that means. I don't know what it's all about. I just feel bad for the guy. He's getting hammered in the media."
"I haven't talked to him," said Mark O'Meara, who took him under his wing when Woods turned pro at age 20 in 1996. - With AP
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Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.