Live From the Frys.com Open: Tiger Woods Prepares For Corde Valle Golf Club

Tiger Woods made his first appearance at the Fry's.com Open on Wednesday, joining in a little pro-am fun with some of the higher ups from Fry's Electronics.

Woods did not look entertained during the round, showing only a few smiles. Of course, it was hard to blame him, both of his playing partners were shooting well into the 100's.

Woods: "Not a Big Deal"

How perfect was "family man" Phil Mickelson winning The Masters over the "less than family man" Tiger Woods on Sunday? It fit, and it was too bad the media didn't realize it until Mickelson started to pull away on the back 9, because that should have been a "What If" story that could have been all over ESPN family of networks in the previous week.

"What if Phil Mickelson, who's mom and wife are both diagnosed with breast cancer, wins The Masters over the the biggest story in the world, Tiger Woods'return after having affairs with Pancake-House waitresses?"

But I'm not going to talk about Mickelson's touching win for his family and the way he torched the competition down the stretch making "big boy" shot after "big boy" shot, while everyone else was missing putts and greens on the back 9.

What irks me as a fan of golf is the criticism that Woods is taking for his less than professional on-course behavior, which he said he would clean up. As the final round of The Masters got more down to business, so did Woods, and so did his attitude. He wasn't chucking clubs by any means, but him shouting after a bad shot and letting go of clubs after a miss-hit has caused him to receive some heat for those actions, which he had previously promised to improve.


"People are making way too much of a big deal of this," Woods said. "I was not feeling good. I hit a big snipe off the first tee and I don't know how people think I should be happy about that. I hit a wedge from 45 yards and basically bladed it over the third green. These are not things I normally do. So I'm not going to be smiling and happy. And I hit one of the worst, low quack-hooks on No. 5. So I'm not going to be walking around with a lot of pep in my step because I hadn't hit a good shot yet."

Perfectly said. The only thing I wish he had not done was tell everyone he was going to clean-up his actions on the golf course previous to The Masters because he obviously didn't mean it, as we see by this quote.

Should he have said that? Probably not in the heat of the moment like he did right after the final round because this came across as too strong. But should people be making a big deal of this? No. Anyone who has ever played golf in their lives knows how aggravating the game can get. Woods just happens to have hundreds of microphones around him mixed with a great passion for the game. The camera is always on him, but it is also on everyone else, adn why aren't they shouting at themselves like he does?

Now, should Woods have been thinking about his pubic appearance while committing this on-course behavior? Yeah, he should of, especially since this was his first week back from his obliterated public image. But if he had thought of his image during his rounds, he would have never been in the position he was in on the leaderboard.

It shouldn't be this big of a deal to the media, of course, Woods can only blame himself for it. The Masters was his chance to clean up his image, and show that he was a changed man. But maybe cleaning up his image and trying to win a golf tournament was too much for him...for anybody.

His public image may be worse now than it was at the start of The Masters because of the comment after the final round because it really sounded like he didn't care about his image and his on-course behavior like everyone thought he did.

Of course, this is probably not the case, but who am I to judge? Woods fate lies in the media's hands, and if they choose to make a big deal of his on-course behavior even more, they will. Then Woods' image may be worse than before.

Reaction to Woods' Apology

Tiger Woods apologized in a prepared statement this morning in front of 40 people, 2 video cameras, and millions of people watching live on almost every major news station on television. He looked pale, stressed, and like a man who has been in rehab for several weeks.
But did you expect anything different? I said in my recent post that the man who was perceived as perfect was in fact not perfect at all, and now he had to make up for making the public believe that. And i believe he did that as best a prepared statement could. Woods has been seen as this flawless person for so many years, so what made you think that this statement he read this morning would be any different? Did you expect anything else? The statement was flawless, his emotions were flawless, and the material he covered was just about the perfect amount of sincerity mixed with trying to better himself in the future. He apologized to everyone possible and did not ask for forgiveness, but for his fans to believe in him again. There were no tears, just ones he tried to hold back.
He needed to apologize to various groups of people, and he did. He needed to clear up what happened that Thanksgiving night, and he somewhat did. He needed to come clean about his extramarital affairs, and he vaguely, but satifyingly did.
But this was a Tiger we had never seen before, a man on the defensive instead of a man in control of the situation. We saw the inferior Tiger, instead of one looking dead at the flagstick or sinking that 15 foot putt in the U.S. Open with no fear.
There were two quotes that will be heard over and over again on Sportscenter re-runs. The first, "I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated," is a quote that showed his sincerity and how serious he is taking this situation. He could have left that quote out or not even gone in that direction, but instead he did.
The second quote might have surprised everyone. Antiipation leading up to this was that Woods would give a certain point of return to golf, instead he gave a timetable, "I do plan to return to golf one day, i just dont know when that day will be. I dont rule out that it will be this year."
So when will he return? He left us in the dark on that one. Im not sure if he actually knows when he will return to golf. I felt he left us short there, and that there needed to be a smaller timetable to his return for the sake of the public and his fans, but i dont event hink he knows.
Yet, Tiger's apologetic speech made Mark McGwire's recent apology for steroid use seem ridiculous. But did you expect anything else from Tiger Woods? He wrote it, or had a part in writing it, thats for sure, and he looked into the camera with a look of sincere apology that was found to be very refreshing, but at some times corny.
Most people's reaction would be to feel sorry for him after hearing the statement. Don't. He brought this upon himself, and although he gave a compelling and sincere statement, im sure he did not mean for the public to feel sorry for him. He just doesnt seem like a man who would want that, but what do we know about him anyway these days anyways?
As for his return, there's no telling when he will come back because it seems like he himself does not know. He has 7 weeks until The Masters. It would seem obvious to come back and play one tournament before Augusta. But no one is sure what to think. I feel that this particular golf season means too much to him for him to sit it out. He has been eyeing 2010 for too long. This year is set-up for Tiger achieving the Grand Slam. At Augusta, he is dominant. At Pebble Beach, he has an amazing track record. At St. Andrews, and any British Open for that matter, he is flawless. And he loves the Whistling Straits course that will host the PGA Championship. Expect him back soon better than ever.

Am i satisfied with his apology? For the most part, yes. Let me know what your reaction is to seeing a different Tiger Woods at the podium today.

Tiger to Speak on Friday

Tiger Woods is scheduled to speak on Friday about his not-so-distant past in a prepared statement that he will read to thousands of reporters and millions of fans that will be tuning in to watch him speak.
But for those who turned giddy at the thought of Woods speaking about what happened that Thanksgiving night, and the alleged 17+ mistresses, and about him coming back to golf soon, dont hold your breath. If anything has been known about Tiger Woods it is that he is as private a person as there is in sports. Every word out of his mouth and movement that he makes is strictly critiqued inside his head and thought out well before to protect his image.
So what makes you think he will say anything we dont already know or speculated before? It is a prepared statement and he asked for no follow-up questions which means that i highly doubt any significant new information other than a public "I'm sorry."
I see this happening one of two ways. The first being he will read the prepared statement where he speaks about how he is deeply sorry to his family, his fans, and his sponsors and then give a time table for his return to golf.
The second way is that in his prepared statement he will go into his sex addiction and the treatment he has received for it, but he will not go into the actual events, and how many mistresses he actually had, or how Elin has played and will play into the equation in the future.
Knowing Tiger, not much is going to come out, and if i were a betting man, i would bet on the first way of this playing out.
As for when he will come back to golf, i would bet that he gives a timetable and not an actual date for when he will be back. I am going to guess that he will play maybe one or two tournaments before the Masters.
But he is on the right course. It is good that he is coming out and speaking now, because the public was getting antzy waiting to hear something from him.
It is going to be a media bananza and viewers anywhere will flock to watch this man speak for the first time since hell froze over and the man who was perceived as perfect was in fact not perfect at all. He may have been just the opposite of perfect, and now he has to pay the consequences for leading us to believe in his perfection.