Tiger Woods plays down plans to golf with Obama on Vineyard
It sounded like a match made in fairway heaven: Tiger Woods, one of the best golfers of all time, squaring off against part-time duffer – and full-time sportsman – President Barack Obama. According to the Boston Herald, the match was scheduled for sometime this week, at an undisclosed location on Martha's Vineyard, where the Obamas are vacationing. The timing was good: Tiger could rattle off a few holes, sip a cool beverage at the clubhouse, and be relaxed and ready for the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 4.
But alas, the showdown is not meant to be. "We're a little busy today. We got a little skins game we've got to take care of today," Woods said on Monday. (Apparently, Woods has begun employing the majestic plural.) Fox News, which landed the scoop, says that Woods had already accepted an invitation to a charity skins game hosted by golfer Notah Begay III – and that he was unaware of the proposed Vineyard match. "Evidently people know more about my life than I do," Woods told Fox News. "I haven't even been informed yet."
For those who don't know golf terminology, a skins game pits players in a type of match play in which each hole has a predetermined value in money or points.
So what would a Tiger Woods/Barack Obama match-up have looked like? Well, for one, it would have been a sweaty affair – temps are soaring across New England, and the humidity is stifling. Furthermore, the president might have had trouble keeping up with Tiger. (Obama has a sweet jump shot, but not much of a drive.) Then again, who knows? "He's not a bad golfer at all," says Norman-Ganin S. Asao, the head professional at Olomana Golf Links in Hawaii, where Obama has played.
"I've definitely seen a lot worse. I've seen him hit a few balls and hit a few shots," Asao told Time late last year. "He looks like he shoots in the 90's to the low hundreds. Obviously he'll hit those bad shots here and there but it always seems once the round gets going he starts to play a little better."
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