[Hennybogan]

Whether deliberate or not- I've seen Tiger and other players start walking to the next tee before the other player finishes his short putt. Looked rude to me. But could be just the way it's done on the PGA, could be subconscious, conscious - I don't know but certainly caught my eye at times. From all the sports that I have played - it's not how I would play the game and if you have to use that to win then it's not worth winning- I'll let the other guy try the games I just want to beat him "straight up"- so I'll just worry about keeping him out of my garden (mind) and not worry about getting in his.

Starting to get cold up there Birdie Man?

Mike O,

I've been reading through the Mental Game forum to see what's already been discussed. There's some great info in here. I'll post when I think I can add something.

Tour protocol says to stay with the group, only moving when the putt left is all but unmissable. There is no excuse for disturbing another player. What might disturb a particular player is very subjective. Of particular concern is signalling to the crowd that its ok to move by moving yourself. A major responsibility of the tour caddie is to make sure that the gallery does not distract his player.

I can't speak to what you saw, but I have seen Tiger and Steve help with crowd control while his opponent readied to putt. Unfortunately, courtesy is not one of the skill sets that land one on the Tour. There is a fair amount of peer pressure to behave.

Dominating while remaining a sportsman. It's really about competing. Answer with your clubs. Never back off. I don't see any defense for trying to put another player off his game other than frustrating him by making shots at critical times. You never know how your opponent might react to gamemanship. Guys have tried it with Tiger pre-round in the press and have been buried. You might awaken a player who had written himself off.

HB