Swipes at the media, a tangent about his spiritual life and a big hug with mom were the highlights of the strictly managed Tiger Woods TV event today.
It took several minutes for him to get specific, but Tiger Woods finally got around to an apology: “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.”
The golfer broke his silence for the first time since his bizarre car accident on Nov. 27, during a controlled statement at the TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Tieless and tearless, at a podium fit for a politician, Woods looked directly into the camera and haltingly apologized for letting down his fans.
In an unexpected bit of stagecraft, the camera cut to a shot of his mother, Kultilda, arms crossed, taking it all in from the front row, soberly.
“I thought I was entitled, thanks to money and fame I was wrong, I was foolish.”
No questions asked. All according to the script.
The world’s most famous golfer attempted to shift into forward momentum, to “start living a life of integrity.”
The last person on the planet to lecture us on “character and decency” did so in a carefully managed media moment.
Good for the golf writers who boycotted the photo op, refusing to be used as props in the spectacle.
“It’s hard to admit I need help but I do,” Woods said, noting his “in-patient therapy for the issues I’m facing.”
Waving off allegations of drug abuse and domestic violence, he managed a few swipes at the media in the midst of his mea culpa.
“Please leave my wife and kids alone,” he said, veering off into a discussion of Buddhism.
Buddhists everywhere shuddered.
Woods’ commercial endorsements, at the heart of his talk, remain the question hanging over the spectacle.
For now, he laid out plans for more therapy, less media. And a hope to return to golf, maybe this year. Then, a prolonged hug with his mama, slap on the back fronm supporters and the man walked off behind the blue curtains, his wife nowhere to be seen.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
