If Tiger Woods performance at Monday’s press conference is any preview to his comeback later this week, he’ll be well on his way to his fifth green jacket.
In front of 206 journalists in the media center at Augusta National Golf Club in August, Ga., Woods publicly took questions from the press for the first time in five months after a morning practice round with golfer and friend Fred Couples.
Wearing an Easter inspired striped Nike polo shirt and white hat, Woods was accompanied by Craig Heatley, chairman of The Masters Media Committee.
Appearing nervous at first as he stumbled out of the gate when referring to Couples as Heatley, Woods seemed more comfortable and at ease the longer the 34-minute press conference went on.
WATCH COVERAGE OF TIGER WOODS’ PRESS CONFERENCE HERE:
Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.
From the first question on the afternoon about the injuries Woods suffered on the night of the Nov. 27 accident that required five stitches in his lip, it was apparent the four-time Masters champion was content with speaking about more than his golf game.
The media had every opportunity to ask Woods anything that was stewing on their minds, ranging from his relationship with Dr. Anthony Galea, who has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs to his relationship with the fans.
Woods acknowledged to receiving “blood spinning” treatment from Galea on several visits to his home.
“He did come to my house, he never gave me HGH,” said Woods. “I had PRP [platelet rich plasma] treatment.” When asked if Woods had been contacted by federal agents, Woods added: “They contacted my agent and will get full cooperation whenever they need me, but right now they haven’t asked for my time.”
However, no one had the courage to ask Woods about Mark Seal’s juicy Vanity Fair article, the text messages from alleged mistress Joslyn James or the scathing comments from golfer Jesper Parnevik, who introduced Woods to Elin Nordegren.
Since the media dropped the ball by not asking those tough questions, you can’t hold that against Woods, who wasn’t standoffish when fielding 39 questions from 34 different reporters.
The media and the alleged mistresses have milked this story dry the last five months, partly due to the fact that Woods refused to speak to the media outside of a pair of five-minute interviews with ESPN and The Golf Channel.
Now that Woods has sat in the hot seat and answered any and all questions from the media, can we go back to talking about his golf game instead of his personal life?
Let’s focus on the fact that Thursday marks the return of Woods return to the PGA Tour following a 20-week layoff from the sport. Twice in the past, Woods has returned after lengthy layoffs and managed to win in his first tournament back, including a victory at the 2008 U.S. Open. Despite his hiatus, Woods is the odds on favorite to win The Masters this weekend.
At this point, I would much rather hear about the mechanics of his golf swing or the flaws in his short game than why his wife, Elin, won’t be attending The Masters.
Hopefully today’s press conference is what Woods needed in order to put his personal life in the past – for good.
