Uneasy Ryder

The Ryder Cup, surely one of the most absurd sporting contests in the known universe, does not interest me and would have gone unremarked on this blog only for that incident involving The Dubliner magazine and Tiger Woods' wife. It is characteristic of the golfing world that the only references to this story that can be found by Googling are on either bland news sites or publicity sites. Apparently The Dubliner, which I was surprised, and a bit dismayed, to discover was still in existence, photoshopped pictures of Woods' Swedish wife Erin Nordegren and claimed that she has featured in 'steamy porn shoots'. The magazine says that it was a satirical article. I'm sure it was but satire requires a target. And what sort of target do Tiger Woods and his wife constitute? He is a golfer for God's sake; it is hard to get any duller than that. But maybe a bit of barracking in the rough-and-tumble of international golfing is close to the hearts of The Dubliner. Anybody familiar with the rag, which has been lumbering along for close to five years, will not be surprised that its efforts at humour were so unfunny. Woods is threatening legal action, though this is unlikely to happen, but if he does it could resolve definitively the problem of The Dubliner's presence on the newstands.