Woods Is Working Hard Back To Tour
Woods Is Working Hard Back To Tour
Tiger Woods had been out of the public’s eye for three months. Suddenly, he appeared through a door-sized gap in the blue curtains as the room fell silent.
Essentially, what happened Friday was that Woods was seen and heard - in tightly controlled circumstances.
The next big step comes when Woods gets back to golf, a landscape he once dominated but may no longer control.
Golf’s biggest star (also the spokesperson of Nike) spoke before a friendly crowd of 40 people in Florida, most of whom he had not seen since the Nov. 27 car accident that exposed the dirty side of a squeaky-clean image with sordid tales of sex.
It was an indication that along with trying to make good at home, Woods is taking responsibility for how he acts at work.
His temper has been a topic throughout his 13-plus years on the PGA Tour, particularly his language. Tom Watson sent Woods a letter last summer about his cursing, urging him to knock it off. Watson shared those thoughts earlier this month in Dubai when he said Woods has not carried the same stature as the greats who came before him, such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson.
It appeared to be a statement by Woods that he knows he has damaged his sport and his tour, and staging such an important event at PGA Tour headquarters was an indication of his support when he returns. By the way, you can see Popular golf balls caused by Tiger wrote by discount golf clubs store.
Woods has many friends on the PGA Tour, but he is close to hardly any of them. One exception is Notah Begay, who withdrew from the PGA Tour event in Mexico to be at the TPC Sawgrass.
Begay compared Woods’ delivery - measured, uncomfortable - to when Woods spoke before a private gathering at his father’s memorial service in May 2006. “This is as emotional as I’ve ever seen him in public,” said Begay, Woods’ teammate at Stanford.
Looking forward, he believes Woods will find a reception like never before on the PGA Tour.
The tour has rarely dealt with so much anger directed at one of its players - there was some heckling of Vijay Singh for saying he hoped Annika Sorenstam missed the cut at the Colonial, and at Bethpage in the 2002 U.S. Open when Garcia saluted the fans with his middle finger after they made fun of his pre-shot routine.
Finchem is hopeful that notice comes soon, although no one knows when Woods will play golf again. There were Tiger’s apologies and confessions in his 13 1/2-minute speech, just not much information.
However, the commissioner was far more optimistic about whether Woods can succeed.
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