The TNT Network weekday coverage of the PGA Golf Championship was somewhat frustrating, as it basically followed Tiger Woods while he struggled to make the cut and then occasionally showed the players who are actually in contention. But then, out of the blue, the coverage was saved by none other than former NBA star Charles Barkley, who proceeded to provide a highly entertaining and funny interview about golf. Among Barkley’s comments were the following:
As the coverage was showing Woods’ reaction immediately after he had hit his ball into the water hazard on the 4th hole:
“Uh, oh, don’t zoom in.”
On his close friend Woods and the extremely hot weather during the tournament:
“It must be hot out there because Tiger is in great shape and he is sweating. When skinny people sweat, you know it’s hot.”
Answering a question on who is in better shape, Woods or Barkley?:
“Well he has a six pack and I have a keg . . . and I would never want to have just six beers.”
On a revelation regarding his physical condition that he discovered while playing golf:
“I came to the realization a couple months ago that I am fat. If you get tired from walking – and that’s all that golf is – then you are officially fat.”
On Woods as a golf instructor:
“Tiger has spent numerous hours trying to work on my golf swing. He’s not a very good teacher.”
On his recent performance at the American Century Celebrity Championship in which he finished directly behind Cheryl Ladd and fellow NBA player Chris Webber:
“It’s embarrassing. If you are a man and you can’t beat girls or the smart kids, you shouldn’t be playing . . . I’m retiring from golf. I’m not going to play again.”
But as funny as the Barkely commentary was, he actually passed along some insightful observations, including the following one about the competition between Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, as noted by Damon Hack in this NY Times article:
Barkley compared Woods to Michael Jordan as the greatest of his generation, and golfers like Mickelson and Singh to basketball players like himself and Patrick Ewing – as Barkley put it, great players, but not the greatest.
“I think Phil Mickelson is the most talented golfer I’ve ever played with in my life,” Barkley said. “But I’ve never seen any jock in any sport work harder than Tiger. If Phil worked as hard as Vijay and Tiger, it’d be like a flip-flop all the time. That’s how talented I think Phil is. But if Phil wants to compete with Vijay and Tiger, he’s going to have to take it to another level, workout-wise.”
“I’ve said this about Phil before. Phil’s so good, he just has to get out of his own way. And I’ve heard Joe Torre say that about A-Rod,” referring to the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. “It would really be scary if Phil were to work out as hard as Vijay and Tiger and practice as much. I would love to see that combination.”
Hat tip to Geoff Shackelford for the link to Barkley’s quotes.