• Golf

Woods receives apology in 'cheat' row

A Golf Channel analyst who insinuated Tiger Woods was a cheater for his various rules transgressions this year has apologised to the world No.1 via Twitter.

Golf is a gentleman's game and I'm not proud of this debate. I want to apologize to Tiger for this incited discourse.— brandel chamblee (@chambleebrandel) October 23, 2013

My intention was to note Tiger's rules infractions this year, but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far.— brandel chamblee (@chambleebrandel) October 23, 2013

Brandel Chamblee, a former PGA Tour player and frequent critic of Woods' swing under coach Sean Foley, had written an analysis in an online column for Golf.com in which he assessed several top players' years by giving them letter grades.

He gave Woods, who won five times this year on the PGA Tour, an F.

"When I was in the fourth grade, I cheated on a math test and when I got the paper back it had '100' written at the top and just below the grade, was this quote, 'Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!' It was an oft-quoted line from the epic poem 'Marmion' by Sir Walter Scott, and my teacher's message was clear," Chamblee wrote. "Written once more beneath that quote was my grade of '100,' but this time with a line drawn through it and beneath that an F. I never did ask my teacher how she knew I cheated and I certainly didn't protest the grade. I knew I had done the wrong thing and my teacher the right, but I never forgot the way I felt when I read that quote.

"I remember when we only talked about Tiger's golf. I miss those days. He won five times and contended in majors and won the Vardon Trophy and ... how shall we say this ... was a little cavalier with the rules."

Below the summary was "100" with a line through it and "F" beneath it.

The suggestion that Woods cheated - he had four high-profile rules issues, including three that resulted in two-stroke penalties - angered Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, who told ESPN.com that he would consider legal action.

"There's nothing you can call a golfer worse than a cheater," Steinberg said on Friday. "This is the most deplorable thing I have seen."

Contacted on Tuesday night, Steinberg said via text message that he had not heard directly from Chamblee.

Chamblee sent out five tweets, one of which said he was not asked to apologise.

This article originally appeared on ESPN.com
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