Turkish golf czar assaults reporter following Tiger Woods

Who knew Tiger Woods’ erstwhile caddy Steve Williams was still enforcing the no-fly-zone around his former boss?

Oh no, wait -- that was the don of Turkish golf who reportedly head-butted a journalist who was following Woods during the opening round of the inaugural World Golf Final at Turkey’s Antalya Golf Club, according to National Turk. You’ll excuse us for being confused, since Stevie used to handle such heavy-handed tactics when he was Woods’ bagman.

For sure, Turkish Golf Federation honcho Ahmet Agaoglu had an odd way of showcasing how open and welcome his country was to the game of golf, which his country-people consider “snob and only for the rich,” National Turk said.

Worldwide interest has been high in the inaugural event starring Woods, McIlroy, and six other top golfers, and with a $1.5 million prize package on the line and the event part of a push by the Turkish government to boost its chances of hosting an Olympics, Agaoglu had some ‘splainin’ to do.

It seems the nation’s golf capo will face charges from a reporter who claimed Agaoglu assaulted him and a camera operator as they were covering the tournament, which kicked off on Tuesday.

The publication reported that that the “Antalya Journalist community” issued a statement condemning Agaoglu for his extreme rudeness toward scribes since the high-profile tourney began.

Woods’ relationship with the press has been a rocky one (see: Alex Miceli), but even Williams never soccer-balled a media member (that we know of) while handling Tiger’s luggage.

Tourney organizers had other, far more serious issues to deal with than an irritable golf czar. The event went on, despite ongoing violence in the southern part of the country. The Woods-McIlroy challenge was taking place several hundred miles from the military action occurring on Turkey’s southern border with Syria.