Tiger quiet about personal life
Anybody hoping to find out about Tiger Woods’ personal life is going to be sorely disappointed if they ask him any questions about it, if his Tuesday press conference at the Irish J.P MacManus Pro Am Invitational is any indication.
The normally polite Woods became at times downright icy when reporters tried to glean out any details about his tumultuous personal life.
A reporter asked him about the damage his numerous well publicized affairs with other women had caused to his personal life and his professional endorsement deals, questioning whether it was worth it. But Woods tried to shut down any talk of it, giving the reporter back a cold “I think you’re looking too deep into this.”
Woods has lost millions of dollars worth of sponsorship since his well publicized infidelities. Once having profited off of his professional, squeaky-clean image, Woods has lost lucrative deals with Gillette, Accenture, Gatorade and others since the details of his affairs came out. But when the reporter attempted to press Woods on the issue, he gave him nothing but stony silence and a “Thank you.” He moved onto the next question.
Woods heads home to practice
Woods also lifted eyebrows when he said he’d be returning to his Florida home to practice before next week’s British Open in Scotland. He already missed the Scottish Open, another PGA tour event, to play in the MacManus Invitational, which is a purely charitable event thrown by Irish billionaire J.P MacManus. But with Scotland so close to Ireland, it raised questions as to why he’d be flying all the back across the Atlantic rather than taking a quick plane ride to Scotland to practice there.
But if it had anything to do with his personal life, he wasn’t saying anything, giving reporters curt answers.
When asked what he would be doing, he said “practicing.” Where? “At home.” When asked why he would be going to Scotland from Florida instead of directly from Ireland, he simply said he needed to see his kids.
On the biggest story in golf, silence
Woods has been almost completely silent on one of the biggest stories in all of golf. Ironically, it’s had virtually nothing to do with the sport itself, with all the focus being on the downfall of what was by far its biggest celebrity. Woods still showed he was a fan favourite amongst many though, drawing admiration from the thousands of fans who attended the event. But he’s been almost completely silent since he gave a public apology upon announcing his return to golf in February, attempting to put the focus back on his phenomenal golfing ability, rather than his more sordid personal exploits.
"There are times in one's life when things get put in perspective, one being when my father passed, and obviously what I've been going through lately," he said at the press conference, in the only time he showed any willingness to entertain a reporter’s question or elaborate on his personal life.
"Everything's working itself out," Woods said to finally put the issue to rest.
Woods hasn’t quite had his old form since returning to golf after going through his well-publicized personal crisis, including troubles with his wife.
But he’ll have the chance to try and bounce back by performing well at next week’s British Open. With a victory there, he’ll have a great chance to get people focused back on his swing. Perhaps the course in Scotland will provide him with a measure of relief from the constant pestering that goes along with being a figure in the American media.
Or maybe, if Tuesday’s press conference in Ireland shows, it’s that Tiger’s troubles will follow him anywhere.
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