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This afternoon at the Newport Beach (CA) Country Club, Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney is playing in the Toshiba Classic Pro-Am in a foursome with Ray Romano, Mark O’Meara and Toshiba President and CEO Mark Simons.
The Golf Channel will be in tow, taping for a future episode of Haney’s new reality show with Romano called The Haney Project: Ray Romano. Read more…
Major development today in the Tiger Woods golf comeback drama: PGA Tour player Steve Stricker committed today to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Stricker, who hasn’t played the tournament since 2005, is a longtime friend and teammate of Woods. One month before Woods’ Thanksgiving car accident, Stricker partnered with him at the President’s Cup - going 4-0 in the process.
But more important is Stricker’s connection to another member of Team Tiger. Read more…
For the first time since his Thanksgiving accident, Team Tiger is now leaking details of his personal life in an attempt to fend off tabloid reports.
ASSOCIATED PRESS reporter Doug Ferguson has long been known for being friendly with Woods, so it’s no surprise that he’s first to report that the golfer is now back to working on his game. (Ferguson also Tweeted about the comeback piece.)
Tiger Woods is back at home after a week of family counseling in Arizona and is trying to get back into a routine that includes golf and fitness, according to a person with knowledge of his schedule.
Woods returned to his home near Orlando on Saturday and has been hitting balls on the range at Isleworth, not far from where he ran his SUV into a tree in a middle-of-the-night accident on Nov. 27 that set off revelations of extramarital affairs. Read more…
The ASSOCIATED PRESS slips in an interesting note about The Masters today that could aid in the return of Tiger Woods.
Players typically have until 5 p.m. Friday the week before a tournament to commit to playing. In the U.S. Open and British Open, they must submit an entry form.
The Masters is by invitation and has no such rules. So if Tiger Woods decides to play the first major of the year, he only needs to show up before his tee time on Thursday.
Masters spokesman Steve Ethun said when Woods announced his indefinite break from golf on Dec. 11, Woods’ spokesman Glenn Greenspan (who previously had Ethun’s job) said he would keep Augusta National apprised.
The Masters sent Woods an invite in December and Masters spokesman Ethun was asked recently what Woods’ status for the tournament was. Read more…
TMZ.com has this photo of Tiger Woods’ private plane today at Mesa Gateway Airport in Phoenix:
The plane is parked, and TMZ reports it arrived on Sunday. It is indeed a cloudy, wet day in Mesa and the tail number is that of Woods’ plane. Radar reported Woods left Orlando Airport on Saturday night with his family en route to Phoenix - with an accompanying shot of the Woods plane in a hangar.
Phoenix is home to a celebrity rehab facility, and also happens to be hosting the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Open this weekend. So it’s natural to speculate that Woods may be there to continue his rehab before rolling out to the links.
But Woods missed the deadline to enter the tournament Friday. Read more…
Jimmy Traina of SI.com’s Hot Clicks has video today of Charlie Rymer of The Golf Channel crying on-air while *analyzing* Tiger Woods‘ speech to the public:
You F—-ed up Charlie, you trusted him. (1:12)
Tiger Woods wasn’t speaking to you today. Or the media. Or the PGA Tour. Or his friends. Or his Mom. In fact, if it was up to Woods, he wouldn’t have talked to anyone.
(The most powerful person in sports isn’t on the left)
The only person Woods was speaking to today was his wife Elin Nordegren. She is the sole reason Woods intentionally endured public humiliation. And she is the only person on earth who knows when Woods will resume his golf career.
Why? Read more…
Prominent PGA Tour pro and longtime friend of Tiger Woods John Cook confirmed to the ORLANDO SENTINEL today that he received an invitation to attend Woods’ “talk” in Orlando on Friday.
(Longtime Tiger friend Cook spurned Tiger’s invite)
The Sentinel with his response: “No, he’s not going.”
Cook, who has known Woods for well over a decade, also provided some details on Woods’ ordeal.
“As far as I know, he never had a phone. I know the next day he was gone [from Isleworth]. He hasn’t had contact with anybody other than face-to-face, which I hadn’t had.”
Dude never had a phone? Wow. Knowing Woods’ insane penchant for privacy, hopefully giving up that info won’t mean we’ll soon be calling Cook a “former friend” of Woods.
Also worth noting: Cook played with Woods at the 2007 Tavistock Cup - the same event that TMZ.com reports will be the site of Woods’ return to golf. Though Cook told the Sentinel he had no idea what Woods’ future plans were:
“I can’t even speculate what he might come out with. It’s great to have him back. To what extent, we don’t know. We have no idea what his plans are.”
Speaking of invites to Woods’ maniacally-controlled lecture talk tomorrow, we’ve confirmed at least one of the attendees. And possibly two more.
Will Swanton of the SYNDEY MORNING HERALD reports that Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams has shot down the MELBOURNE HERALD-SUN’s report that Woods would return to golf at The Accenture on Feb. 15.
(Williams has also denied knowing of Woods infidelity)
Williams said, ”The stories stating Tiger will return at the matchplay have no truth to them.” Read more…
Yesterday we got a shot-in-the-dark report from the MELBOURNE HERALD-SUN that Tiger Woods would be returning to golf at WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson on Feb. 15.
(Most - but not all - Tiger Accenture airport ads have given way to Elephants)
If the Aussie outlet had predicted The Masters, or even Bay Hill in Orlando, I could somehow swallow that. But based on the current circumstances involving Woods, The Accenture is the last event where he’d stage his comeback.
What follows is 10 reasons why Woods won’t return to golf at The Accenture.
