Geoff Ogilvy thinks that the public spat between Tiger Woods and Brandel Chamblee could have been avoided if Woods had not been so guarded with the media.

Ogilvy wrote in Golf World that although Chamblee’s take was “in places, too hyperbolic for my taste, the principle of him being able to share with us his expert assessment is too important to be abused.”

Last month, Chamblee said that Woods was “a bit cavalier” with the rules in 2013, when the world’s No. 1 player won five times but also found himself in the middle of at least three high-profile rules incidents. Chamblee later backtracked, saying on-air that he “went too far” by insinuating that Woods had cheated.

Ogilvy, however, said that the issue could have been avoided if “Tiger would give open answers to questions – ‘real’ interviews, not just ‘nothing’ interviews.” But because Woods decided not to explain the various incidents at the Masters, Players Championship and BMW Championship, it “only encouraged all kinds of rampant speculation and generally ill-informed conspiracy theories,” Ogilvy said.

Long one of the most honest and refreshing interviews in golf, Ogilvy added that players would be “better off not being so precious about what appears in print and on-screen.”

“Journalists and broadcasters,” he wrote, “should not be mere cheerleaders. There’s too much of that in golf right now, to be honest. And not nearly enough untainted honesty. If correspondents do nothing more than claim how great everything is, any semblance of reality is lost.”