Tiger Woods catches a stray during U.S. Open coverage: "He skated through"
Golf Channel analyst and former PGA Tour winner Brandel Chamblee says Tiger Woods is partly to blame for the poor behaviour of elite men's golfers.
Tiger Woods is partly to blame for the poor behaviour of elite men's professional golfers, according to Brandel Chamblee.
The conduct of the top players the men's game, particularly at the major championships, has come into sharp focus in 2026.
Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre drew the ire of the green jackets at Augusta National in April.
And LIV Golf recruit Joaquin Niemann has come under the microscope this week after he became the to be hit with a penalty for throwing a club .
The Chilean, 27, was punished under Rule 1.2b and assessed a two-shot penalty at the U.S. Open for "serious misconduct".
During a lively debate on Golf Channel's Live From the U.S. Open, Chamblee appeared to insinuate Woods is partly to blame.
He said the 15-time major champion was "one of the most profane golfers to ever play the game".
And although he was criticised, the golf legend was never held to account in the way Wyndham Clark has been for his locker room outburst.
"I never saw Jack Nicklaus throw a club," Chamblee said. "I never heard him yell an F-bomb.
"I never heard him use a profane word on the golf course. If he hit a bad shot, you'd hear him say, 'Oh, Jack.'
"I never saw [Arnold] Palmer throw a club. I never heard him yell an F-bomb. Same with Tom Watson.
"Pick your player—I never saw Greg Norman. All those bad losses that Greg Norman had, I never saw him throw a club or heard an F-bomb from him.
"You can say what you want about Phil Mickelson—I never saw him throw a club or yell an F-bomb.
He continued: "And, you know, the same is not true of Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is the greatest player ever. We all love him. Everybody got rich off him.
"But he was one of the most profane golfers to ever play the game. Nobody ever criticised him. He skated through."
Chamblee said it "rains F-bombs all the time on the PGA Tour".
"Clubs get thrown all the time," said. "Tee markers get destroyed. And you're right—the players have all the power in the world. Nobody reins them in.
"It used to be, I always thought you would get fined for profanity on the PGA Tour, but I guess not."
Chamblee said he's "no prude" and was also guilty of poor conduct when he played on the PGA Tour in the 1990s.
"I understand how crazy it gets, and we've all done it," he said. "I've done it. I'm no prude, because we've made those same offences.
"But I wasn't on TV much, and these guys are videotaped everywhere they go. TV is everywhere.
"So they have, I would say, a bigger burden than you and I would have had, no doubt about it.
"But with that burden comes unimaginable wealth. It goes with the scrutiny.
"And composure is a skill—it's a skill. It's lazy to throw clubs, and it's lazy to drop F-bombs when you know the whole world is watching."
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Ben Smith joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
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