Tiger Woods’ tampon prank nothing more than a ‘boyish joke’ and certainly NOT ‘harassment to women’ says ex-LPGA golfer Suzann Pettersen
Tiger Woods has predictably received a wave of backlash for a joke between he and Justin Thomas, though there have been some who have defend his actions, including retired women’s professional golfer Suzann Pettersen.
Woods handed a tampon to Thomas after outdriving him on the ninth hole at the Genesis Invitational – his first PGA Tour event in seven months.
Pettersen, who will captain the 2023 European Solheim Cup team – the women’s Ryder Cup equivalent – dismissed the light-hearted moment between two friends as inoffensive and nothing more than a ‘boyish joke.’
‘I know Tiger quite well,’ Pettersen told reporters this week, via Golf.com. ‘I don’t know Justin Thomas as well, but I know kind of Tiger’s humor, and that’s a very probably boyish joke between the two of them, and I don’t really take it too personal.
‘Not much more to comment on that. I think that was supposed to be a gig between the two of them, and unfortunately some cameras caught kind of the gig in the heat of the moment.
Suzann Pettersen defended Tiger Woods following his tampon joke sparking much outrage
‘I don’t know, I don’t think he meant to be offensive in any way. I don’t really have any other comments.
‘I’m pretty easy on stuff like that. I’m sure it was meant as a joke, not as a harassment to women in general.’
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac also came to Woods’ aid recently, highlighting the hypocrisy of certain women looking to demonize the fifteen-time Major champion.
It follows entities like a Colorado women’s group, labeling Woods as ‘tone-deaf’ and ‘misogynistic.’
Woods made an apology in the days following the joke amid a flurry of criticism last Friday.
‘It was supposed to be all fun and games,’ he said, ‘but obviously it hasn’t turned out that way and if I offended anybody that was not the case.
‘It was just friends having fun. As I said, if I offended anyone in any way shape or form, I’m sorry. It was not intended to be that way.
‘We play pranks on one another all the time and virally I think that this did not come across that way but between us it was different.’
The 15-time major winner handed Justin Thomas a tampon during the opening round in Calif.
Both Woods and Thomas saw funny side of the joke, which came after he outdrove the latter
