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CNN Sunday Morning

Tiger Woods Says Women Should Be Allowed to Play in Augusta

Aired August 11, 2002 - 07:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tiger Woods hasn't run away from the field at the Buick Open just yet, but Augusta National probably wants him to run away from comments about women playing golf there. A little golf, a little baseball, and Serena on the big screen? I guess we're talking a little bit of sports here.
CNN's Josie Karp is live in New York.

Josie, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

JOSIE KARP, NEW YORK: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk a little golf first with Tiger. Is this really new of an unexpressed opinion before where he now says that women should be allowed to join the ranks at Augusta?

KARP: Well, it is something new because just to give you a little background, a couple months ago, women's groups sent a letter to the chairman of August National, asking that women members be admitted by next April, when the master's takes place again. And the chairman, Rudy Johnson, came out. He was very defensive. And then it got a lot of publicity. So people were asking Tiger Woods, the masters champion how he felt about women at Augusta National. At the time, he said, "You know what? They're allowed to make the rules they way they want to make them. And that's just the way it is."

And at that point, there was a lot criticism, because if you remember when Tiger Woods first broke on the scene, all those "I am Tiger Woods" commercials, he was sort of presented at the champion of everyone, of everybody who's ever been excluded. And here, he wasn't taking a stand for a group. If he's clearly not a part of, but one that has also been excluded and is being excluded from Augusta National.

Well, he was asked about it again or actually on his Web site came out and made this statement just recently. And it actually wasn't very strong, Fredricka. He said, "Should women play at Augusta International? Yes, but I'm just one voice." So it's still not Tiger Woods coming out and championing the cause.

WHITFIELD: But he certainly had never failed to recognize how he has helped open up the game, how much he has influenced so many in being a lot more inclusive with this game. There are only 10 black members of Augusta right now. So certainly he feels like, at this point, maybe he feels comfortable knowing how powerful his words could be. KARP: Well, and he's actually not even a permanent of Augusta National. And I think where the criticism comes from is people feel like he is a champion for his own causes, but any time it goes larger than that, he doesn't really want to get involved.

And Michael Jordan, in a lot of ways, was criticized for similar things, because if you try to remember, did Michael Jordan ever do or say anything controversial? It's really hard to come up with any example. And that's one big reason he's been so successful as someone who can make all the commercial endorsement dollars, because every buddy feels like they like Michael Jordan and then he's never done anything really, really wrong.

WHITFIELD: All right, speaking of controversial, there have been times where Barry Bonds has been a bit controversial, but this time, everyone really seems to be applauding him and standing behind him, Now that he's a member of the 600 club. And then most recently, just now becoming or breaking a record for intentional walks in a season now at 46. I wonder if all this has really kind of sunk in for him right now.

KARP: Well, I'm sure that it hasn't. You have to kind of get away from things to get a little perspective, just the way I'm sure it took a while for 73 home runs last season to set in for Barry Bonds. But when you look at the intentional walks, that's one example of how you can compare him to other people who have to gotten to the same point in terms of the 600 home runs, how much respect people have for Barry Bonds. If he's the guy that they're walking intentionally more than anyone else in history, that shows you that he does belong at this plateau that he's now arrived at.

And it's interesting, Fredricka, you always do want to compare and say, how would Barry Bonds have been had he played when Babe Ruth played, had he played when Willie Mays or Hank Aaron played? And one of the interesting things about this 600 home runs is that he went from 500 to 600 in only 710 at bats. And that was faster than anybody else. And it shows that at 38 years old, he seems to be getting even better. Now it's kind of a scary thought. He's still 155 home runs away from Hank Aaron. He is 38, but there's a good chance that he could get there and break that record and become the all-time home run leader.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's a nice little factoid though, giving everybody hope that, you know, you don't have to be 20 in order to be at the top of your game like some people, such as Serena Williams.

Now we want to shift gears onto tennis. She's, you know, what is she only 20? She's the number one ranked tennis player, women's singles player now. And now she says, well, you know what? Tennis just not be enough to hold my attention. How about a little acting? Is she playing around or is she really serious about this?

KARP: Well, I think she could be playing around, because she does have the reputation as being somewhat of a prankster, but anytime you're in the same room with Serena at a press conference or something, you can tell she's very theatrical, very dramatic. So the idea that she'd want to be an actress isn't so far-fetched from that viewpoint. And then you look at all the other athletes who've tried to break into the entertainment business.

I was just reading yesterday, in fact, that Shaquille O'Neal might be in a CBS pilot this fall about a high school basketball team. So the idea of athletes who have conquered their own realm, wanting to stretch the boundaries a little bit and get into entertainment on the, you know, the small screen or the big screen, is not unheard of. And if she wants to do it, like you say, she's 20-years old. She's at the top of her field right now. All the power to her.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. And Shaquille, we've seen in him commercials. And we've seen Michael Jordan, you know, in -- on the big screen. So why not, huh?

KARP: Why not -- Fredricka, she was talking about the people she'd want to co-star with though, and she came up with leading men like Sean Connery and Morgan Freeman, like you're 20.

WHITFIELD: Oh, brother.

KARP: Come on. Can we think a little younger?

WHITFIELD: No kidding, I'm wondering what they say about that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we'll talk about later.

All right, Josie Karp, thanks very much. Good to see you from New York.

KARP: You, too.

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