Tiger Rebound

With a little time now to reflect and take it all in, some thoughts on the Tiger Woods Non-Presser held Friday, February 19th.

It was stunning to finally see Woods in the flesh, grey slacks, blue dress shirt, navy blue blazer. Some said they wanted a tie, I could care less, it was appropriate attire for someone who was going to read a carefully crafted statement.

And it was a carefully crafted statement. There were elements of Tiger that were no doubt and some if not most elements that had to be worked into the wording. The opening seemed very robotic to me. I don't use the word "atone" very often if at all. We've all been in situations where we've screwed up and needed to make amends. You go to whomever and say, "I'm sorry, I screwed up, let me make this up to you, please forgive me..." You don't tell a friend, "I will atone for this..." At least, I haven't had it happen, yet.

What he said he had to say, but there are other elements of this story that will not go away and at the same time will never be addressed.

For example, what were you doing and where were you going at 2:27 a.m. in your Cadillac Escalade without shoes?

Why did the Florida Highway Patrol find you asleep in the street following the car crash?

Why were both of the rear windows knocked out?
How badly hurt were you?

If some or any of this goes to Elin, there is no way we're ever going to find out what really happened. From a physical evidence standpoint some issues don't add up, but now it has been weeks and to open this non-event to the mainstream media, rogue media as well as golf media at this time and place Woods would have to go back to the night in question and would have to be consistent in not only what he says but with what actually took place.

I can understand now why there were no questions during these 15 minutes of infamy. First, again, we'd have to set the way back machine to the night in question of the accident which simply isn't going to happen. Once Tiger invoked the "leave my family out of this" clause, that issue is not going to be discussed by him in public, ever. Second, if he was going back into treatment the next day, then I'm sure the folks at the rehabilitation center of his choosing don't want to have any type of media dissect what they are doing, how they are doing it and with whom they are doing it.

Still, it made no sense to me why Tiger had to speak when he did at the place where he did it. There are thousands of hotel rooms in the Orlando area, why did Tiger and his entourage have to travel three hours up to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, home of the PGA TOUR and at their own home course, deliver this semi-private apology to a group of individuals in the room? And also do it on a Friday morning when the TOUR had not one, but two events going on?

In re-reading, more than once, the transcript of the non-presser, there was not one thing on the pages that suddenly set off the light where I could nod in the affirmative and say, "I see now why he had to say this now at this place..." There was nothing in the script that I could find that would lead me to believe that this had to be done when it was at the place that it was. Not the apology to the folks in the room, not the "stay away from my family" part, not the "I am so sorry" part. I would argue that any or all of this could have been done quietly, away from the media and the manipulated side show that we all witnessed. It almost seemed like this was going to be the chance for Tiger to control the event and say, "This is all I'm going to say and this is all I'm going to talk about it. You got to see it, there, we're done..." buy you know we're not done.

I found it interesting that Woods's caddie, Stevie Williams said that he is going to protect his guy from hecklers. Sure, that makes sense, someone mouths off and Stevie goes into the crowd. What Woods needs right now is no more trouble. The video of Stevie Williams going over the ropes after someone has "mouthed off" to his man is gold for the shooter and the heckler. Yep, makes plenty of sense Stevie, bait the crowd and then do what? What if it's a group of guys, are you going to take them all on? What if it's a woman or a child? Then what? Remember when politician Gary Hart said, "sure follow me around, you'll be very bored..." and then what happened? Donna Rice and Monkey Business. Be careful what you ask for, especially when the dividing factor is a thin, nylon, yellow rope, no need to bait the crowd.

The person Tiger doesn't own me an apology, but the brand Tiger does owe all of golf an explanation. There have been companies and individuals who were blindsided by this string of deceit. Sure you can say you're sorry all you want, but what are you going to do about it?

I agree, get your life, your family, your marriage in order, take all the time that you need, but when you come back, and come back you will, it will be incumbent on you to reach out to sponsors, fans, tournaments, the media and show the depth of your sincerity in turning your life around both as human being and a corporation.
I agree that this is a time of action and what happens from here on out will define, fairly or unfairly, who Tiger Woods is and what he means to the sport of golf. It is all on Woods now and the difference here is that everyone is watching what the World's Number One Ranked player will be doing both on and off the golf course.