Back in the day, when I was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I used to think that the reason we all took turns covering Tiger Woods was that it was only fair. There are usually three or four people shooting a major championship for Golf World and the standard, if unwritten, rule is this: Everybody gets Tiger at least once.

Years ago I thought that was a very altruistic approach. I mean, we should all have the opportunity, at least once per tournament, to walk eighteen holes with the greatest golfer who ever lived, right?

Only lately have I come to realize that it’s not that at all, and that the situation needs to be turned on its head. The reason we all get Tiger at least once isn’t because it’s good for the person who’s covering him–it’s to give the other guys a break. Forget sharing the wealth. It’s only fair to spread the hell around a little.

Fair to spread the hell of massive, crushing galleries, of being cursed at, spit on, pushed, and pulled by spectators who, unlike those who comprise your typically knowledgable, “normal” Open galleries, apparently have very little regard for the game or its traditions (to say nothing of us photographers, but that’s neither here nor there). Of having the rules for coverage changed on us at the last second without warning–of being able to sit in a particular spot all day long, only to be told two minutes before His Greatness appears that we can’t be there. Of goon-squad security guards and uniformed police officers packing pistols in the middle of the fairway. Of the need to operate with an even more heightened sense of awareness that even the slightest misstep could cost you a tongue-lashing from The Man himself or, worse yet, his caddie, even if the real culprit was the guy next to you with his Rebel XT who can’t figure out how to turn off the autofocus beep. Following Tiger is about as stressful an assignment as one can have on the golf course. And today was my day.

Well, tomorrow’s Sunday. The really important one. And I have a special little project to work on that you’ll hear all about later…