SAN MARTIN, October 9, 2011 (AFP) - Tiger Woods' tough 2011 season took one more odd turn on Sunday when a fan flung a hot dog in his direction in the final round of the Frys.com Open.
Woods was preparing to putt at the seventh green at CordeValle -- his 16th hole of the day -- when the man burst out of the crowd and tossed the hot dog in Woods' direction.
Woods backed away from his putt and the man promptly surrendered to tournament security personnel and police.
Authorities did not give the man's name, but said he appeared to be intoxicated and had been arrested.
While 14-time major champion Woods has had to endure the occasional heckler since his return to competition in 2010 in the wake of a sex scandal, he had never had a spectator get through the ropes to approach him.
"When I looked up, the hot dog was already in the air," said Woods, who regretted missing his subsequent birdie putt but otherwise didn't seem especially concerned. "He was pretty far away from me."
Woods said the man "laid on the ground and looked like he wanted to be arrested because he ... put his hands behind his back and turned his head."
"I guess he wanted to be in the news," Woods said. "And I'm sure he will be."
Australian Rod Pampling, playing in the same group with Woods and India's Arjun Atwal, called the incident "bizarre".
Atwal noted that it was lucky the incident didn't turn uglier.
"They could have shot him," Atwal said. "The cops could have thought it was something else."
"He’s just an idiot," Dan Diggins, the tournament's director of security, said of the man, although by the time Woods' round was finished Diggins could see the lighter side.
"It wasn't a chili dog -- that could have been bad," he said.
UPDATE: The Hot Dog Bandit Provides Inspiration for Meat Throwing act
LOS ANGELES, October 13, 2011 (AFP) - A man arrested for flinging a hot dog in Tiger Woods' direction at the Frys.com Open on Sunday told a local newspaper his plan was to do something "courageous and epic".
Brandon Kelly of Petaluma, California, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on Tuesday that he's the man who threw the hot dog and he's a fan of Woods -- and hopes the 14-time major champion eventually breaks golf great Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles.
However, he said he formed the idea for the dubious gesture after watching the movie "Drive," in which Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver.
"I threw the hot dog toward Tiger Woods because I was inspired by the movie 'Drive,'" Kelly told the newspaper. "As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, 'I have to do something courageous and epic. I have to throw a hot dog on the green in front of Tiger.'"
Woods was preparing to putt in the final round of last week's tournament when Kelly shouted his name and tossed the hot dog.
"When I looked up, the hot dog was already in the air," Woods said Sunday. "The bun was kind of disintegrating."
Kelly was quickly arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor that authorities said would likely result in a fine and perhaps community service.
Video from TMZ