The 31-year-old man, whose name wasn't released, dropped to the ground to be arrested as Santa Clara sheriff's deputies converged on him. Woods backed off his birdie putt, then quickly resumed play.
Even as he returned last year from a sex scandal, and the occasional fan would should heckle him, Woods never had a fan duck under the ropes and approach him.
“Some guy just came running on the green, and he had a hot dog, and evidently ... I don't know how he tried to throw it, but I was kind of focusing on my putt when he started yelling,” said Woods, who didn't seem bothered by it all. “Next thing I know, he laid on the ground, and looked like he wanted to be arrested because he ... put his hands behind his back and turned his head.”
Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the man was arrested for disturbing the peace and removed from the property. Because it was a misdemeanor, Cardoza said the man would not be taken to jail and his name not disclosed. Cardoza said only that he was from Santa Rosa.
“He was very cooperative,” Cardoza said. “They said, 'Why did you do this?' He just shook his head in guilt or remorse. He didn't give a reason why he did it.”
Cardoza said the man claims he wasn't throwing the hot dog at Woods, rather tossing it in the air. He said the man acknowledged having a drink earlier in the day, that the man was not drunk.
Arjun Atwal, who played with Woods, said he was concerned for a moment at the sight of a fan yelling out Woods' name and approaching the green.
“They could have shot him,” Atwal said. “The cops could have thought it was something else.”
It was high drama, albeit briefly, in an otherwise solid round of 3-under 68 for Woods. In his first tournament in seven weeks, he finished with three straight rounds of 68 to tie for 30th, 10 shots behind, at 7-under 277. It was the first time Woods had three straight rounds in the 60s on the PGA Tour since the Deutsche Bank Championship last year.
Still, the hot dog incident stole the show.
“It was bizarre,” said Rod Pampling, who also played with Woods. “This guy comes running out with a hot dog in his hand, and then he lays down and puts his hands behind his back.”
Woods said he never felt threatened because he was on the back end of the green and the fan never got close to him. He heard the commotion of security behind him, and when he looked up, the hot dog already was in the air.
“The bun was kind of disintegrating there,” Woods said. “He knew what he was doing because he laid on the ground, put his hands behind his back and turned his head away from security. So just one of those deals.”
The only thing that bothered Woods was missing the 18-foot birdie putt.
“I guess he wanted to be in the news,” Woods said. “And I'm sure he will be.”
When he finished with a final birdie, any seriousness of the incident gave way to levity. Dan Diggins, head of security for tournament sponsor Frys Electronics, said the man would be arrested for “everything” and described him as “just an idiot.”
“It wasn't a chili dog,” Diggins said. “That could have been really bad.”
The rest of Woods' round wasn't nearly as eventful. He did get on the leaderboard, before the leaders teed off, with four birdies in his opening six holes. But he missed the 16th green and made bogey, and after an easy birdie on the 17th, didn't make another one until the his final hole on the par-5 ninth.
“I got better every day, and unfortunately, a couple times I didn't get the momentum going when I had a couple of chances to make putts,” Woods said. “I could have just really got it rolling.”
He attributed that to not enough play. Because of injuries to his left leg this year that are finally healed, Woods has played only 10 full rounds since the Masters.
“I haven't played much,” Woods said. “That comes with competitive flow, understanding the situations and feels, and game time is a little bit different.”
He is hosting a tournament at Pebble Beach next week to raise money for his foundation, and he said “family obligations” would keep him from playing the season-ending tournament at Disney.
Woods is playing a series of exhibitions in Asia and Australia leading up to his next appearance at the Australian Open on Nov. 10-13, with the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne a week later.
<한글 기사>
타이거 우즈, 경기 도중 '핫도그 공격' 받아
미국프로골프(PGA) 투어 프라이스닷컴 오픈 대회에서 경기 도중 타이거 우즈(미국)를 향해 핫도그를 던진 한 남성이 경찰에 체포 됐다고 AP통신이 보도했다.
9일(현지시간) 미국 캘리포니아주 산 마르틴의 코드벌 골프장에서 열린 4라운드 경기 도중 7번 홀 그린에서 31세 남자가 우즈를 향해 핫도그를 던지는 해프닝이 벌어졌다.
핫도그는 그린 위까지 올라갔지만 우즈를 맞히지 못했고, 이름이 공개되지 않은 이 남성은 곧바로 경비 요원에게 제압당했다.
2009년 11월 미국 플로리다주 올랜도 자택 인근에서 의문의 교통사고를 낸 뒤 각종 성 추문이 불거져 곤욕을 치른 우즈가 경기 도중 이런 공격을 당한 것은 처음이다.
우즈는 "웬 남자가 핫도그를 들고 그린 쪽으로 달려왔다"며 "처음엔 그가 무엇을 하려는지도 몰랐다"고 말했다.
경찰 관계자는 "경범죄에 해당하기 때문에 수감되지는 않을 것"이라며 핫도그를 던진 이유에 대해서는 말하지 않고 있다고 전했다.
소동을 일으킨 남자는 우즈에게 던진 것이 아니라 그냥 공중을 향해 던졌을 뿐 이라고 주장하는 것으로 알려졌다.
그러나 우즈와 함께 4라운드를 치른 아준 아트왈(인도)은 "그 남자가 우즈의 이름을 부르며 그린 쪽으로 다가왔다"며 의도성이 있었다는 쪽에 무게를 실었다.
우즈는 "아마 그는 뉴스에 나오고 싶었던 모양이다. 그 소원은 이루게 될 것"이 라며 대수롭지 않다는 반응을 보였다.
파3인 이 홀에서 우즈는 두 차례 퍼트를 시도해 결국 파를 기록했다.
이날 버디 6개와 보기 3개를 묶어 3타를 줄인 우즈는 최종합계 7언더파 277타로 공동 30위로 대회를 마쳤다.
우즈가 3라운드 연속 60대 타수를 기록한 것은 지난해 9월 도이체방크 챔피언십 이후 1년1개월 만이다.
우즈는 "라운드를 치를수록 좋아졌지만 고비 때 퍼트가 말을 듣지 않았다"며 "아무래도 최근 경기 감각이 떨어진 것 같다"고 자평했다.
우즈는 11월 열리는 호주오픈에 출전할 예정이다.
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