A Whole New Meaning To “Wind” On A Golf Course

So earlier this afternoon in the sports office we’re watching Tiger dominate at the Buick Open when all of a sudden our desks rattle with that unmistakable sound:

Someone broke some serious wind.

Now granted, the emission of gas is nothing new here in the PIX sports office – in fact it’s a badge of honor and downright customary to let one rip every now and then – so at first I didn’t think much of it.

But my eagle-eared colleague Chris (who happened to have been monitoring the golf tournament and had his TV tuned to Tiger) quickly made it known that he was not the culprit.

And seeing how I was the only other one in the room at the time (and I was pretty sure it wasn’t me), there was only one other possible source for that most thunderous of explosions…the BUICK OPEN!!

But who could possibly be so audacious as to cut one on live television in front of millions of viewers? Take a look for yourself (the magic happens about 8 seconds into the clip):

To answer your first question: YES, it was THAT CLEAR on live television.

Now for the other query on everyone’s mind: could it possibly have been Tiger??!!

As I’m sure you can imagine, we’ve watched the clip about 100 times so far tonight and have a couple of theories about the “fart heard ‘round the world.”

First up: it wasn’t Tiger. If you watch the clip, you’ll notice that immediately after the “boom,” Tiger lets out a loud laugh, indicating that it caught him off guard. This leads me to believe that it was Tiger’s caddy, Steve Williams, possibly trying to loosen Woods up as he marched his way down 18 towards victory.

The second reason we don’t believe Tiger was responsible is because when the camera switches angles from behind Woods to a head-on shot, he’s looking over to his right and laughing – most likely indicating that the rumble came from that side of the golf course.

Williams is also looking to the side, which might lead one to believe he is innocent. However it should be noted that the “let 'er rip and look around as if it was someone else" technique is one that serial offenders have employed for centuries.

Now, in the interest of equal time, I have to present the case AGAINST Woods.

If you watch the video closely, you’ll notice that pre-launch Tiger appears to be uncomfortably swaying from side to side – at one point even lifting his leg up and down.

It’s at the PRECISE moment of impact that Woods lifts his leg one final time, perfectly in beat with the fierce flatulence. If you’re going to argue that Tiger was indeed the one who dealt it, you might have a good case with that evidence.

Either way, I think the real heroes in this saga are the announcers for never missing a beat. How they managed to keep a straight face and continue on with the commentary is beyond me.

Clearly, because it’s eight hours later and I still haven’t stopped giggling.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle