Tigergate: Sucks to be Golf Digest

Yesterday at Mediaite, Stephanie Wei noted that Golf Digest--which sponsors Tiger Woods--was giving his car crash and/or domestic-violence incident a pretty wide berth, relying on wire stories and avoiding any commentary from its own writers.

Given this sympathetic (and vague) column by Bill Fields, Wei's description is already slightly dated. But don't think for a minute that Golf Digest's p awkward situation has improved.

Here's the problem: January's issue is all about improving golf's image in Washington, DC--and includes a feature on ten things Barack Obama could learn from Tiger Woods, and vice versa. Among other things, Obama is urged to study "[Woods'] Quick Recovery," "The Cold Ferocity," "How to Step on their Necks," "The Trouble with Compromise," and--worst of all--"The Danger of Looking Ridiculous."

Here's the painful-to-read press release:

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In the upcoming January issue of Golf Digest, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde is going straight to the top in the name of improving golf’s image in Washington D.C.  That’s why President Obama, along with Tiger Woods, is on the cover:

The message to Congress and the Obama administration?  The golf industry accounts for 2 million jobs with a total economic impact of $195 billion annually.

In addition to the cover, the feature article focuses on 10 things Obama could learn from Tiger—and vice versa.  Providing the tips is a group of influential writers and players, including Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Brokaw, Mark Whitaker, Don Van Natta Jr. and Steve Rushin.  The piece is attached below.

Additional highlights include:

·       Golf Digest Survey – “What’s a Reasonable Amount of Golf for President Obama?”:  45.9% of readers said “As much as he can without affecting his work,” compared to only 7.8% who said “Never”

·       Fun Fact:  Using Golf Digest’s Presidential Rankings, we compared the Dow Jones Industrial Average on both the inauguration and final day in office of our best golfing Presidents.  Nine out of the top 10 saw increases in the Dow during their terms.