PGA Marshals Corroborate Tiger Woods' Version Of Incident At The Players Championship

The Tiger Woods TPC Sawgrass saga continues, with two of the marshals working the second hole of Saturday's event disputing the account of two other marshals, who accused Woods of lying about distracting Sergio García.

García said that Woods distracted him by pulling a club from his bag, at the par-5 second hole, after surveying his shot he hit on an errant drive, causing a stir in the gallery as García was attempting a shot elsewhere.

"It's very simple," said García said during an NBC interview. "You have to pay attention to what's going on because the other guy is hitting. You do something when you're in the crowd, and the crowd is going to respond."

Woods said he didn't see García and that the course marshals gave him the go-ahead.

"The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot," Woods told reporters. "And then I hear his comments afterward, and it's not real surprising that he's complaining about something."

Earlier in the week, John North, Professional Golf Association (PGA) chief marshal for the first three holes of The Players Championship, told Sports Illustrated, regarding Saturday's incident.

"Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him," said North.

Two other marshals dispute what North told the sports publication.

"It is not true and definitely unfair to Tiger," said PGA marshal Brian Nedrich, to the Jacksonville newspaper, Florida-Times Union. "That's because I was the one Tiger heard say that Sergio had hit."

Lance Paczkowski, who was one of several marshals trailing Woods all eighteen holes, agreed with his colleague account, and even asked the number one golfer in the world if he need more fans to move out of the way.

"[Woods] said, 'No ... I'm good,'" said Paczkowski. "We talk to players all the time, if we need to in regards to their needs and crowd control."

This is not the first time, this year, that Woods' interpretation of the rules has been questioned:

• At the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, Woods missed the cut, after officials penalized him for taking a free drop after his golf was trapped in a bushel of vines.

• During the second round of the Masters, Woods was nearly disqualified after he took a drop behind where he hit his initial approach. A penalty was assessed the next morning, by PGA officials.

• The day after the García incident, Woods hit the ball into the water in the final round on the 14th hole. Woods and playing partner, Casey Wittenberg, agreed that the ball hooked hard into the water. Woods took a drop on the fairway rather play it back from the tee. An  overhead blimp replay suggested the ball may crossed the water's edge.

Nedrich doesn't believe that Woods or Garcia are at fault over what what happened on Saturday.

"There was a lot going on, as usual, when Tiger plays," said Nedrich. "He's trying to have the concentration he needs to win a tournament. It's easy to get small details out of whack when things happen so fast. It was an unfortunate incident and I don't think either player is to blame."