Forget Tiger's knee, Adam Scott's lamely strange injury explanation would never fly in NFL or Major League Baseball

LA JOLLA, Calif. (June 12, 2008) - With Tiger Woods walking and moving fine as he warms up, it’s time to turn to the real perplexing injury in the prize-fight-hyped Top 3 threesome grouping of this morning’s U.S. Open.

Yes, I’m talking Adam Scott’s broken pinky.

Scott - who hasn’t talked to the media all week - has reported that he smashed his pinky finger in a car door, breaking it. Now I’m not saying this isn’t possible, but if an NFL or Major League Baseball player came out with that type of injury explanation, the beat writers would be rolling their eyes and sports talk radio would be alive with chatter on how he really might have broken the digit.

Remember how lame Jeff Kent’s I broke my wrist washing my truck claim was from a few years ago? The Giants surely do after reports emerged that he really broke it doing wheelies on his motorcycle in violation of his contract. Or how about Brian Griese’s I tripped over my dog and fell down the stairs bit?

Sorry, call me a cynic, but that’s what Scott’s story sounds like to me.

How many people do you know who’ve broken a finger slamming a car door on their own hand? How many of those are world-class athletes who can make amazingly complex adjustments in a golf swing in a few moments?

Again, I’m not saying that it’s impossible that Scott really do break his pinky in a car door. He could have. But only in the chummy world of golf reporting would he not even be questioned or doubted on it. That’s one of the things you quickly learn about the PGA Tour if you’ve covered other major sports. These guys are the most media coddled athletes in the world.

There’s no mandatory press sessions after losses, no fines if you don’t show up for press conferences like there are in the major team sports. Instead you can walk around smiling as no one wonders about your pinky tale.