Second Thoughts

Golfer says Tiger rant not 'bashing'

Pat Perez follows his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
Pat Perez follows his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

A day after Pat Perez made headlines for saying on his SiriusXM radio show earlier this week that Tiger Woods "knows he can't beat anybody," the 40-year-old, two-time PGA Tour winner stood by his opinion while clarifying his comments to GolfDigest.com.

"My whole point that he can't beat anyone is that he only shows up to tournaments when he thinks he can win," Perez said. "So he must be hurt still if he's playing poorly and pulling out of tournaments. It probably sounded harsh the way it came out, but what I meant by that is he is probably still hurt.

"I wasn't talking about his career. I was talking about this point in time, and we don't know what we're going to get from him. I'm not the only one thinking this. It's common sense. Everybody wants to talk about Tiger. It's like 'Where's Waldo?' "

Perez sent a text message to Woods on Thursday expressing that same sentiment to the 14-time major winner, and the two exchanged multiple texts about the comments.

Woods was not pleased, according to Perez, but in essence told him he understood and that Perez is entitled to his opinion.

"I'm not Tiger bashing. I'm not saying he's not the greatest," Perez said. "That was me and my co-host [Michael Collins] talking about the current what-ifs of Tiger's situation. I have done nothing but praise him my entire career."

Perez and the 41-year-old Woods have known each other for three decades, having competed against one another as juniors in Southern California. In 1993, Perez beat Woods at the Junior World Amateur, calling it Thursday one of the highlights of his career.

Perez added that he was frustrated by the coverage of his comments, particularly on social media. He also has deleted his Twitter account, but that took place days before the show was taped earlier in the week.

"It's not like [Tiger and I] talk all the time," Perez said. "He texted me when I won. We talk [a few times] a year. People always ask me what's going on with Tiger. I was talking about today, not 2005. He's got 79 wins, 14 majors. He's the greatest ever, and we will not see what he has done again in our generation. I have nothing but the utmost respect for what he has done. I've done nothing but praise him my entire career."

Fetch for a cause

For the second year running, a pro tennis tournament in Brazil will kick its ballboys and ballgirls off the court. In their place will be the best tennis-ball-fetchers of all: shelter dogs.

If it's like last year, the pooches at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo will wear sweatbands and have scarves around their necks. They'll be specially trained for the job, although one imagines that dogs need little prep for ball-retrieving.

The dogs won't be ball-chasers for the whole tournament, which starts next week.

Instead, they'll be on duty for an exhibition match aimed at promoting the adoption of homeless dogs. All six being deployed -- named Cindy, Nanda, Pretinha, Mia, Arlete and Ovelha -- come from two Sao Paulo shelters and will be available for adoption.

"What do these dogs have in common?" Madalena Spinazzola, a spokesman for the pet food company that's organizing the event, asked in a statement. "In addition to a history of abandonment and looking for adopters, they love to run after balls."

The four ball-dogs that performed at last year's Brazil Open all found homes, organizers said. One, Isabelle, was renamed by the couple who adopted her. She is now known as Serena.

Sports on 02/25/2017

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