Tiger's team complicit in affairs?
Tiger Woods' insistence that his friends and managerial team had no knowledge of his adulterous behaviour is being challenged in a new article in Vanity Fair magazine.
According to the article, childhood friend Bryon Bell, currently the president of Woods' design company, was the man who made arrangements for trysts between the golfer and cocktail waitress Jamie Jungers.
Equally as damning was a claim from another mistress, Mindy Lawton, who said that when she told Woods that the National Enquirer magazine was aware of their affair, he directed her to his agent, Mark Steinberg, who he said would take care of the matter. Both claims fly in the face of Woods' insistence that he acted alone in pursuing his liaisons.
Woods makes his long-awaited return to professional play at the Masters next week, following the notorious car crash and the resulting, astonishing fallout that ensued. So far, the world No. 1 has handled his return to the public eye with the trademark control that has marked practically his every media appearance since coming to prominence.
But while Woods has refused much in the way of media dealings, issuing statements via his website before making a stage-managed public statement of apology, the golfer granted a couple of five-minute interviews last week. Though he appeared obliging, Woods spoke only in general terms when referring to his infidelities, and refused to shed light on the events that led to the car crash.
Perhaps scotching the rumour that he has no sense of humour, Woods maintained a straight face while commenting "it's all there in the police report," before falling back on a favourite standby, claiming that any other factors responsible for the crash were "between Elin and myself."
Woods will face the press en masse on Monday at Augusta. Even at this controlled environment, where fans and media alike face a difficult task in securing attendance under normal circumstances, it's to be expected that the 34-year-old will face at least a few difficult questions - maybe even from an angle that the golfer hasn't been able to plan for, or rehearse suitable responses to.
Perhaps chief of those should be along the lines of trust. Because following this latest development, how can we believe a word that Woods says about anything?
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