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Tiger Woods will return to therapy after he ends a three-month
silence and speaks about his infidelity and his future plans.
Golf's biggest star on Friday will address the sex scandal
that has consumed his life since late November then will return to
the clinic where he has been undergoing therapy, according to a
letter from PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem obtained by The
Associated Press.
Finchem's letter to the PGA Tour policy board and other
officials explained why Woods chose Friday to make his first public
comments, which are to be televised live by the major networks.
"As we understand it, Tiger's therapy called for a week's
break at this time during which he has spent a few days with his
children and then will make his statement before returning,"
Finchem said in the letter Thursday. "Accordingly, there was very
little flexibility in the date for the announcement."
The letter shed no light on whether Woods plans to return to
the tour anytime soon.
Golf's biggest star is to make his first public appearance
since he ran his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree outside
his Florida home on Nov. 27 and sent him into hiding.
The setting for his return is decidedly friendly. Woods will
speak to a small group of "friends, colleagues and close
associates" in the Sunset Room on the second floor of the TPC
Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour. Just one video camera will
broadcast the event and there will be no questions.
Woods' statement comes during the Match Play Championship,
sponsored by Accenture, the first company to drop Woods as a
pitchman.
Enrie Els was among players who were upset to learn that
Woods had chosen the week of a World Golf Championship for a public
appearance that was sure to take attention away from the
tournament. "It's selfish," Els told Golfweek magazine.
Finchem told reporters in Marana, Ariz., earlier this week
that he didn't think Woods' appearance would undermine Accenture,
and that Woods' handlers "have their own reasons for their
schedule."
In the letter, he said the tour discussed the timing with
Accenture and "they understand that the PGA Tour was not involved
in determining the timing of the statement." Finchem also noted
that Woods' comments would be over well before television coverage
of the third round from Dove Mountain.
The PGA Tour made available its sprawling,
Mediterranean-styled clubhouse for the announcement, and was
helping set up adjacent ballrooms at the nearby Sawgrass Marriott
for media, where they can watch Woods on closed-circuit TV. Finchem
said in the letter that Woods' management asked for the facilities,
and "we agreed as we would for any member of the PGA Tour."
No other PGA Tour player could command this kind of
attention, though.
Woods is one of the most recognized athletes in the world.
Television ratings double when he is in contention, which has
happened a lot on his way to winning 71 times on the PGA Tour and
14 majors, four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus.
No other athlete had such a spectacular fall. Accenture and
AT&T have ended their endorsement contracts with him, and Woods
has become the butt of jokes on everything from late shows to
Disney performances.
