By C. Schwetty Jacques
Sports Reporter
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Golfer Tiger Woods escaped the green and mauled a fan before being captured and returned to his pen today.
"It was horrible!" one bystander exclaimed with a mixture of terror and morbid curiosity. "I hope something like that never happens again. But, um, if it does, I wouldn't mind again finding myself at a safe 20 or 30 feet away with a decent view."
According to eye witness accounts, Woods was lining up his putt on the 12th hole when a nearby fan in Adidas gear distracted him.
"I'm not sure what that guy did, but it made Tiger really angry," said Walter Hood, who was standing near the unnamed fan. "He was clearing his throat and fidgeting, but it wasn't loud or too bustly. I guess Tiger has extra-sharp senses or something because after about a minute of this he just turned and lunged at the guy."
Dr. Yearly Wifflesplat, a Tiger expert at UCLA, said Woods was likely reacting to what he perceived as a hostile display from the fan.
"To display Adidas symbols close to Tiger Woods is extremely dangerous," Wifflesplat said. "Woods probably considered that an aggressive action. And to compound that with coughing and fidgeting during a putt, also hostile actions, well, the fan is lucky he was a few rows back in the crowd or he'd probably have been finished."
Witnesses said Woods dropped his putter, roared, and leaped over three rows of bystanders to get to the fan. Woods bit the fan's neck and shoulder repeatedly before being pulled off by security personnel, who quickly tied him to the back of a golf cart and sped back to the clubhouse.
"Tiger has been sedated with a series of Jack and Cokes and is resting in his pen," said club spokesman Chip Shot. "Obviously we are very sorry this happened and are taking preventive measures to ensure that nothing like this ever occurs again."
The club is considering replacing the yellow rope surrounding greens with a 10-foot steel fence and placing sharpshooters armed with dart guns atop towers at each hole.
The mauling is the first on a golf course since Tim Daly attacked and seriously wounded a mini bar in 1996.