Tiger Woods has decided to make a statement Friday morning. When this was initially reported, it was presented as a press conference. All of the rules for this, “press conference,” were then expressed: three reporters were allowed in the room and no questions could be asked. Having worked in the media at a golf tournament Tiger played in, reporters and tournament officials always know there are the rules and then the Tiger rules. He was the only person I have seen walk in and out of the media center at a tournament with multiple police officers in tow. Tiger has spent his entire adult life carefully orchestrating how people would perceive him. He has also been very protective of his private life making sure most have no access to it. Anyone in golf, from PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem, network reporters, to PGA writers have always allowed Tiger control of the situation, because no one wanted to lose access to the Tour’s Golden Ticket. Some people will talk about this off the record and how ridiculous it is, but no one will rock the boat.

All of this has to change to some extent now. The Golf Writer’s of America are boycotting the statement reading Friday at TPC Sawgrass. They expressed disappointment in how the proceedings were to be handled and felt their presence at the event would give, “credibility to an event that isn’t worthy of it.” These may be the strongest words from the media about Tiger I’ve ever seen. People are standing up to the Tiger machine and I applaud them. Many people are now wondering what Tiger may say Friday. I thought maybe I would give this statement a try.

 

“First I want to thank everyone here and across the world for taking some time out of your schedules to allow me to make this statement. The last three months have been the most challenging three months of my life. I have no one to blame for this other than myself. Over a period of time, I put myself in some bad situations, made very poor decisions and those actions hurt many people including the people I care about the most in this world, my family. While it was never my intentions to do so, I understand my actions have tremendous repercussions and my family and I are dealing with those currently. Yet, while this time has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can not imagine how painful it has been for Elin. I have hurt the person I love and care about most in this world, the mother of our wonderful children, and hope I can one day regain her trust and love. My family and I are and spending extensive time discussing these matters and trying to best determine how we can move forward in our lives together. I understand this is going to be a long process and one that I am not taking lightly.”

“While I have been on an indefinite leave from golf, that leave is going to be extended for a period of time. Elin and the kids mean the world to me and have to get all of my attention at this time. Family is not something I take lightly and until I have the trust and love back from them, nothing else matters. I do not know how long that will take, but I want to make sure I put all of my time in effort into this now. The game of golf has given me a lot, but now is a time where I have to give my all to my family.”

“To the fans and sponsors who have stood by me during these tumultuous times, I want to say I’m sorry. I understand I have also let many people outside of my family and friends down and would like to apologize to them now. I have sought out treatment and feel like I am now on the right path. I have some of the best fans and do have the greatest sponsors in the world and want to thank all of them for sticking with me during a time, quite frankly, I did not deserve it.”

“As I said earlier, I am not sure what my golfing future holds and I am OK with that. My family is and will continue to be my number one priority. I have made a lot of mistakes in the past and we as a family are dealing with those now. I would like to ask again for privacy and your understanding while we deal with these matters as a family. When the time comes for me to make another statement regarding my future, I will do so at that time. Until then, I again ask you for privacy while my family and I deal with these matters. Thank You”

 

 

Of course, this is all assuming Elin is at the press conference tomorrow. Should she not be there, all bets are off. Maybe he would announce a separation or divorce. That may open up an opportunity for Tiger to announce his return to golf.

The way Team Tiger has handled everything up to this point and this statement is not very good. Look at the steroid guys in baseball that came out and admitting things early. We have forgiven those people and if you do not think so, look at A-Rod or Giambi. If you still are not convinced, look at the alleged users of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemmons. This should clear your head a little. Team Tiger should have come out in mid-December and admitted everything. The way he has handled everything is the absolute worse. The more you run from your problems, the more people dig to find more. This would be the perfect case story of how not to handle a public relations crisis. Tiger and his team have done very little so far to make me think they know how to handle things and Friday has the feelings of the same. Hopefully for his sake, I am wrong, but my dad has this saying of, “if it looks like a duck and quacks, then it is probably a duck.” Maybe Team Tiger won’t expel a lot of quacking Friday, but if history repeats itself I would not be surprised to hear this on Friday, “AFLAC!”