"Imagine if Woods and Phil Mickelson did something like that today."

Great job by Doug Ferguson to remind the gentleman's game types bemoaning all of the controversy of late as an aberration that is not good for the sport.

This isn't the first time golf has gone way beyond birdies and bogeys.

There was the lawsuit involving Ping and the square grooves in the 1980s. There was Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, leading the breakaway from the PGA of America to start what is now the PGA Tour at the end of the 1960s. Imagine if Woods and Phil Mickelson did something like that today.

''It's not a perfect game,'' Curtis Strange said. ''Some people believe there's no such thing as bad press, but it seems like we're still having growing issues. We're learning how to handle doping issues, although nobody has learned to do that yet. I'm been reading about Lance Armstrong all day.''

And Ferguson also notes...

And it's not anything Finchem can make go away with a wave of his hand. Considering that golf is a niche sport, maybe that's not the worst thing.

Speaking of the racial dust-up from last week, Tiger was asked about it Wednesday and he continues to handle a tricky situation quite well.

Bob Harig with the lowdown on Woods' press conference that touched on the Sergio row, Merion and other topics.

"Well, I live it," he said. "It's happened my entire life, and it's happened my entire career. So that doesn't surprise me. It exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf. It exists everywhere. I know that a lot of people are trying to make a difference and trying to make it more fair for all of us."

When asked about the abundance of outside-the-ropes news in golf this year -- the anchoring ban, Vijay Singh's lawsuit against the PGA Tour, the Garcia flap -- Woods simply said, "Well, I've won four times (on the PGA Tour)."