US PGA Tour player Tom Pernice Jr has spoken out strongly on Tiger Woods’ absence from the season-ending Tour Championship, blasting his decision to snub the event as a “disgrace”.
“I think it’s a disgrace,” journeyman Tom Pernice Jr told Golf World magazine. “It’s a slap in the face to (presenting sponsor) Coca-Cola and the tour. He wouldn’t make the money he makes if it wasn’t for the PGA Tour.
“At some point, there is a credibility as to what’s inside you as a person. There is a responsibility and an obligation to the people who helped make you who you are.”
Woods decided to skip the event to “recharge” his batteries after an arduous recent schedule that included three consecutive weeks in Europe.
He heads to Asia next week for tournaments in China and Japan – contracts that were signed long ago, before he decided he needed a rest.
This was not the first time Pernice has taken a shot at Woods. At last year’s Ford Championship at Doral, he requested that Woods’ driver be tested to ascertain whether it was legal.
Pernice is also good friends with Vijay Singh, whose relationship with Woods is chilly at best.