Tournament director denies any special policy for Tiger Woods in Australia
After a tumultuous year, Tiger Woods has returned to where it all began.
Woods arrived in Melbourne, Australia on Monday 8 November to defend his title at the Australian Masters at the Victoria Golf Club. Not only was last year’s event his most recent victory
but it was also the site where infidelity rumours first appeared. While Woods shot 14-under for the title last year, rumours of him flying in a female companion for the week in Australia eventually led to his full-blown public relations crisis.
On Tuesday 9 November, tournament officials responded to claims made by Australian media that anybody caught heckling the former number-one golfer for his extra-marital affairs would be
ejected from the premises after one warning.
"There is absolutely no specific policy directed towards Tiger Woods," tournament director Marcus Gale told Reuters of the media claims. "We
expect all spectators to be courteous as they have always been here, a fact that Tiger commented upon last year.”
"He won't be treated any differently from any other player in this regard,” Gale added. “We have the same policy for the 120th ranked player as for the top ranked player in this field."
Gale said each heckler will be dealt with individually.
"It would be silly to adopt a one warning and you're out policy and not look at every issue on a case-by-case basis," he said.
When Woods failed to win the HSBC Champions event last week in Shanghai, China, it marked the first season in 14 years in which he failed to win a single event. Playing the role of jet-setter
these past few days, Woods flew directly to Bangkok, Thailand, after the HSBC to play in a one-day skins game for charity, followed by a direct flight to Australia.
In late October, Woods lost the number-one ranking to Lee Westwood for the first time in 281 weeks.
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