Tiger Woods is undergoing intense marriage counseling for his sex addiction and to attempt to repair his marriage which has been shattered by increasing media news about more women he was sexually involved with during his short marriage.
Tiger Woods has been reclusive and requests privacy now for his “transgressions” which were posted yesterday after more women are coming forth stating they have had sexual encounters with him while he was married.
The news broke out days ago when Woods crashed his SUV in front of his mansion in Florida and the rumor mills are now buzzing with trying to get to the truth about his accident. Woods under advisement from his handlers has remained silent and only when other women have come forth with details then he decided to make a confession on his site.
The secretive private life is no longer a secret and Woods is now in damage control to his squeaky clean image as a pro-golfer facing the loss of his sponsorships and the loss of millions of dollars in endorsements by his brand name which is now tarnished.
Tiger Woods is in intense marriage counseling. This comes as reports fly around regarding what his wife Elin Nordegren would get if she filed for divorce.
For example, if the Tiger Woods scandal (which continues with Rachel Uchitel's press conference today) ends with a divorce between Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren, the Herald Sun reports she would realize a settlement payout of $300 million.
But that $300 million figure has been floating around unsubstantiated, so I'm not going to use it as anything more than a jumping-off point for blogging.
The matter of a divorce payout is more complicated than the Herald Sun presents and Nordegren's already receiving a "stay home" gift. According to Chicago Sun Times Columnist Bill Zwecker, his sources claim that the couple is currently involved in intense marriage counseling and Nordegren already has a "hefty seven-figure amount (that was) immediately transfered into an account she alone controls".
For those of you math challenged that's at least $1 million.
Moreover, Zwecker writes that Woods original prenup required Nordegren to remain married to Woods for over 10 years, and then she would receive $20 million. But after the Tiger Woods scandal, she demanded and got a shorter term at a high amount. Zwecker does not report what that is as of this writing.
Tiger Woods with even more women? C'mon
Hollyscoop.com claims even more women are expected to come forward to claim their moment in the spotlight, er, say that they had sex with Tiger Woods. But now this is, to borrow a term now-President Obama used during the 2008 Democratic Primary, "Silly Season" because we will have to continue to sort through the garbage to determine which story is real. Oh brother.
I've got news for any woman who's part of the "I slept with Tiger" set. If you expect to receive the same level of media attention enjoyed by Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin, forget it and for a very technical reason: the novelty factor is wearing off.
What we're seeing now is the public adjusting to a new image of Tiger Woods because of the scandal, but once that sets in, and it's happening fast because of New Media, the public's collective ear will not perk up as high the next time a woman says "I slept with Tiger Woods." The collective response will be a yawn and a snarky "So what" which will translate into no payouts for news, unlike the $150,000 US Weekly is rumored to have paid to Jaimie Grubbs for her affair story
Tiger Woods apologized once again for humiliating his family by having numerous extra-marital affairs at a news conference at Augusta National Golf Club.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, the 34-year-old said that "a lot has happened in my life in the past five months," but the hardest part was "having to look at myself in a light that I never wanted to look," reports US magazine.
"The pain and the damage I caused my wife, my mom, my kids ... Going forward, I am going to have to explain all [this to them] ... but that's my responsibility. I did it."
The golfer refused to reveal why he went to rehab, but said it allowed him to "to take a look at myself ... I've come out better. I am certainly a much better person for it."
He said he never considered going to rehab before the scandal broke.
Woods is 'a big fat liar' says alleged porn star lover-
Tiger Woods "is a big fat liar" who slept with a porn actress 10 days after the birth of his child, the woman, who claims a relationship with the golf megastar, said on Monday.
Joslyn James, real name Veronica Siwik-Daniels, held a press conference with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred at her side immediately after Woods's own press conference at his return to competition at the US Masters in Augusta, Georgia.
"We believe he has not been rehabilitated," Allred told reporters and photographers at the event. "We are disappointed, we waited for the apologies to the mistresses, to the women. He didn't say to whom he lied.
James, 39, was more blunt.
"He is a big fat liar. He is not honest. After the birth of his daughter he was with me 10 days later," she said.
At his press conference Woods evaded the question when asked details of how he kept secret his cheating on wife Elin, who will not be joining him at Augusta.
"You're living a life where you are lying all the time," Woods explained. "I wasn't having any fun. Now I have stopped all that and it's fun again."
He added: "I hurt so many people close to me. I lied to myself. It's pretty brutal. I take full responsibility for what I have done."
Woods kept quiet when asked about many details of his numerous affairs, the November 27 car crash that launched the scandal, and his current relationship with his wife.
James earlier posted emails and text messages purportedly from Woods that suggested she and the golf star were texting each other during last year's PGA Buick Open near Flint, Michigan.
Tiger Woods Press Conference - Woods gives 35 minute talk-
Tiger Woods, The World's Greatest Golfer, just finished his longest press conference, and his first real one, since that infamous Thanksgiving night when he crashed his Cadillac, and the subsequent revelation that Woods had affairs with as many as 14 women. The Tiger Woods of the 35 minute press conference is getting an A-plus on the Golf Channel; this blogger will give him an A.
Tiger Woods, while still obviously a rash of emotions, took every question - 39 in all - given to him head on. He was asked about steroid allegations four times and surrounding the fact that Dr. Anthony Galea did visit Woods home in the past. Tiger Woods said that Anthony Galea did not give him steroids or Human Growth Hormone.
Woods said he felt comfortable working with Dr. Galea, but that the doctor did not give him HGH or mention it. Woods said that he was ready to cooperate with any investigation, but that he was not asked to appear for questioning as of that time.
In all Tiger Woods did an incredible job of "manning up" to what happened and admitted that he still has "a long way to go." He's rediscovered meditation and says he does it with his Mom as part of his effort to "keep centered." But what was interesting was this comment:
"Winning Golf Championships is not what life is all about."
Tiger Woods said he's at The Maters "to win it", but again family is now more important to him and he says the period of telling lies and feeling the need to tell a lie is behind him.
While a number of questions were asked, no one asked questions about the allegations that came out in various gossip publications, from the alleged $10 million he gave to Rachel Uchitel to the public requests for specific apology by some of Tiger Woods mistresses.
On the matter of Tiger Woods on the Golf course for The Masters and the idea that he needs to be more "under control", Tiger said, "I'm actually going to try to not get as hot when I play. But when I'm not as hot I'm not as exuberant either."
That part, I really don't care about. Frankly, and no disrespect to the great Tom Watson, who made the observations about Tiger Woods on course behavior and how it could be better, that's Tiger. It's part of the man who became the World's Greatest Golfer. I hope he keeps the fist-pump in his game, but not the four-letter words. Well, OK. One or two.
People are ready to see Tiger Woods play Golf.
Tiger Woods – golf or scandal, what makes him outstanding forever?-
Tiger Woods – who is this man? If we ask you the question, what answer would you have? A scandalized athlete who has been accused of cheating his wife recently? Or the best golfer of the world who has several winning titles in his kitty?
Probably the second answer would be the reply from you, isn’t it? Yes, the man is primarily known for his golf and the scandal has just been a part of his life that has of course affected his career and reputation.
But people would be wrong if they feel Tiger’s career is lost forever. If they think that a mere sex scandal can affect the professional front of the man who is worshipped for his contribution to the world of golf, they need to revise their thoughts for sure!
We think exactly the same as The Guilfordian who reports that for a winner like Tiger, winning back reputation would not be a big issue. And most importantly, sex scandal of an athlete is not something that has happened for the first time with Tiger Woods. There are number of scandalized men from the world of sports whose infidelity cases have been soon forgotten once they have proved their worth in the comeback matches.
If Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and David Beckham were forgiven, then why not Tiger Woods too? We are sure that Masters Tournament this month would be the real comeback session for the golfer and once again he would get back the tag of “best golfer” and the “scandalized athlete” would soon be over and done!
Tiger Woods Scandal Is Over, Investors Say-
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Tiger Woods comeback is, in a way, official, now that the world's No. 1 golfer has completed his return to the world stage at The Masters tournament this past weekend.
Still, analysts are varied in their opinion of how his return will impact the companies that are still sponsoring Woods. Some believe the impact will be minimal, arguing that while Tiger is good for network ratings, he does not actually contribute all that much to the sales of sponsors like Electronic Arts(ERTS) and Nike.
Others believe that Tiger's return to golf will ultimately lead to a satisfying payoff for those companies, both of whom have supported Tiger through the height of his sex scandal.
Given the divergence of opinion, we wanted to know what TheStreet has to say, and thus posed the question: "Do you think the Tiger Woods scandal has finally played itself out?"
As if to further complicate matters, on Wednesday, April 7, a mere day before the opening round at Augusta National, Nike released a new, roughly 30-second ad, featuring a silent Tiger Woods, with the voice of his deceased father, Earl, posthumously reprimanding his son.
In the spot, as the camera pans closer to Tiger's face, Earl intones: "Tiger -- I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. And did you learn anything?" The ad was produced by ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, and ABC News reported that the audio was "selectively spliced" from an interview in 2004, in which Earl was actually referring to his wife Kultida, and not Tiger.
When asked how he felt about the ad, Woods said he believed it was "very apropos," and that "any son who has lost a father, and who meant so much in their life, I think they would understand the spot." Tiger added that he felt his father, who had passed away in 2006 and had been his coach and mentor, was still helping him from beyond the grave.
Howe Burch, executive vice president and managing director at Baltimore-based ad agency TBC, said of the ad: "I think a lot of people would respond negatively to the fact Nike is exploiting this situation for commercial gain," but noted that it has generated a lot of publicity that could lead to significant returns for its golf business. Burch has run marketing units at Reebok International and Fila. Nevertheless, the "stuff that happens outside the court" for the athletes it sponsors are "merely a sideshow for Nike," Burch says, arguing that Tiger's performance at the Masters is of utmost importance to the sports apparel and equipment maker.
In an email to TheStreet, Susquehanna Financial footwear and apparel analyst Christopher Svezia wrote that he thinks Tiger's return is overall "a positive for sports and broadcasting (ratings), but not a reason to buy Nike -- the company is too big to be driven by one athlete."
Svezia also said: "I don't believe Nike skipped a beat during the Tiger situation," given that Nike Golf is a $650 million business for Nike or about 3% of total company revenues. He noted that golf sales are improving year-on-year for the industry, even without Tiger in the game, citing newer technology and favorable comparisons as consumers "held off a year ago."
As for how TheStreet sees the scandal, our poll takers appear to be over it all. The majority, or 54.3%, of you who responded to our poll answered: "Yes, the Tiger scandal is played out, and has no bearing on whether I would invest in a company he endorses."
Another 22.3% agreed of poll respondents agreed with the statement: "Tiger is still a winner, and I would invest in any company he's associated with."
Meanwhile, 23.4% of you can't wipe his recent past from your memories, agreeing with the sentiment: "No -- Tiger is still a pariah, and I wouldn't invest in any company associated with him.
Tiger struggles to stay on the straight and narrow-
Tiger Woods returned to Augusta promising a cleaned-up act but delivered a mixture of the impossibly good and some rank bad golf plus a sprinkling of behaviour bordering on the ugly.
He had promised a "more respectful" approach to the game but in many ways during four days of white-hot US Masters competition, Woods showed he has not changed from the pre-scandal version of the world number one.
True, the worst expletives and club-throwing which have marred his majestic play of the last couple of years were gone but Woods still struggled to maintain his cool when a drive or approach shot soared a fairway's width away from its target.
"Ti-ger -- you suck!" he hollered at himself and quite often he was right.
His technique verged from the sublime to the almost ridiculous, often within the space of a couple of holes, with only an unmatched determination not to cede ground to his rivals taking him to his eventual fourth place behind winner Phil Mickelson.
One minute in a final round of 69, he was carving a Sunday hacker's drive deep into a copse, the next he was fashioning an extraordinary recovery from pine needles over sky-high trees to within 10 feet of the pin from about 190 yards.
The next moment he would be miserably pushing a snatched four foot putt past the hole for a bogey with the attitude of a man who had apparently lost his technique and touch completely.
Fans who feared that this extraordinary player, who had pocketed 14 major titles before his dramatic fall from grace through a string of extra-marital affairs, had lost his fighting spirit and frightening will to win could have nothing to worry about.
Others hoping to see a more relaxed and amiable individual who had put the sport and its inevitable travails into perspective would largely have been disappointed, certainly on the final two days as the pressure grew.
Woods, in short, gave a pretty convincing impression of a golfer both temperamentally and technically on the very edge of his game. A man often literally struggling to keep his balance.
He could not have asked for a warmer welcome from the huge galleries who watched him and, as he had promised in a news conference, he initially engaged with the fans at every opportunity.
For the first two rounds, Woods continually tipped his cap to acknowledge his supporters, repeatedly saying 'Thank you' as the Georgian pines resounded with calls of 'Go Tiger' and 'We love you, Tiger'.
HOT TONGUE
After five holes in Saturday's third round, however, the old Tiger with the hot tongue returned.
A poor swing on the par-three sixth tee sparked a profanity-laced outburst which was heard clearly on live television. Woods followed up by shouting to himself: "You suck!"
Further outbursts of mild swearing sporadically followed as the world number one went on a roller-coaster ride of great and dreadful golf for the final 30 holes of the tournament.
While many had doubted whether Woods would be able to contend at Augusta, he was not among them and he became increasingly frustrated as he failed to put more pressure on Mickelson in the final round.
"I wanted to win this tournament," he said after finishing five shots behind his compatriot and arch-rival. "As the week wore on I kept hitting the ball worse.
"I entered this event and I only enter events to win and I didn't get it done. I didn't hit the ball good enough and I made too many mistakes around the greens, consequently I'm not there."
Asked whether it would take him more time to control his on-course emotions since he pledged to show more respect for the game, he replied with a look almost of contempt.
"People are making way too much of a big deal of this thing," he said. "I was not feeling good. I'm not going to be walking around there with a lot of pep in my step because I hadn't hit a good shot yet."
NO HINT
Woods gave no hint as to the next event he would play on the PGA Tour.
"I'm going to take a little time off and kind of re-evaluate things," he said.
With the June 17-20 US Open at Pebble Beach the next major on his horizon, Woods is likely to compete in at least two tournaments before then.
The May 6-9 Players Championship at the PGA Tour's headquarters in Florida is a virtual certainly, given its status as the unofficial fifth major at the venue where he made his first public apology following his stunning fall from grace.
Also likely is the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio from June 3-6 where he typically plays.
The April 29-May 2 Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina is another possibility and Woods has until the Friday before that week to commit to the event.
Wherever he does play next, the world number one will not have the luxury of the tightly controlled environment at Augusta and he could well experience his first on-course heckling since he became engulfed in his sex scandal.
Should he be heckled by the fans, he will have to negotiate yet another severe test of his ability to keep his now notorious tongue in check
New Tiger a bit like old one-
Tiger Woods might not have been all that pleased with his performance in his comeback event, but the world No1 has shown enough glimpses to suggest he can still be the player he was.
One such glimpse came on Thursday afternoon, when he hit his opening drive. It was his first shot in competition for five-and-a half months and it flew straight to position A on the fairway. It was greeted with loud applause.
The spectators were applauding the return of the world's best golfer and did so with the decorum expected at a genteel place such as Augusta National.
It was not the sort of noise you get during a Ryder Cup nor the sort of whistling and yelling that you might get in parts of New York or Boston, but decent applause nonetheless.
For some time yet Woods will be known and thought of in two ways, as a golfer and a sex addict, or, if you prefer, a sex addict and a golfer. As his successes at the game grow, so his past misdemeanours will fade.
Someone close to Woods pointed out earlier in the week: "A president was involved with Monica Lewinsky and he was forgiven . People in America forgive. They may not forget but they forgive."
While he was attempting to win the Masters for a fifth time and remind everyone just what an exceptional golfer he is, there remained a prurient interest in his "off-the-field" activities.
To be honest, few, if any, thought he could return to competition and be as good as he has been. Whether it was his touch around the greens, his wildness off the tee or simply a degree of rustiness, it was thought that this week Woods could not possibly be the golfer he once was.
Yet somehow he almost was. Starting with the first sub-70 opening round in the 16 Masters in which he has competed, he played almost as if he had not been away.
His temperamental outbursts that had become such a part of his game last year have improved.
In his press conference last week Woods spoke of his need to curb his outbursts even if meant curbing his celebrations as well.
"I am going to try and be more respectful of the game and acknowledge the fans," Woods said.
On Thursday there was a moment on the second hole when his right hand came off the club and he turned away and looked down. One sensed he was biting his lip. In years gone by he might have sworn or banged his club or both
Tiger Woods is also cheap, mistresses tell Vanity Fair-
A new Vanity Fair article delves into the private life of Tiger Woods, claiming the golfer's friends, employees - even his genetic makeup - are responsible for his philandering ways. And, the mag says, Woods didn't even have the decency to buy stuff for his mistresses. The cad!
According to the article's author, Mark Seal, Woods was surprisingly cheap when it came to his various ladies: Mindy Lawton claimed the only thing he ever bought her was a chicken wrap from Subway (less than five grams of fat!), and Jamie Jungers revealed the reason she broke things off was that Woods refused to help her financially. (Not because, you know, he was married.)
Jungers also claimed that despite Woods' assertions that nobody was aware of his affairs, all of her trysts with him were organized through Bryon Bell, the pro's longtime friend and president of Tiger Woods Design. Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, was allegedly also in on the secret: When Lawton told Woods the National Enquirer was reporting on the affair, he got Steinberg to tell her, ``We'll take care of it.''
But it wouldn't be an in-depth profile of the Woods' scandal without trying to place blame somewhere; apparently, simply blaming Woods isn't good enough. The golfer's lawyer, John Merchant, reportedly warned Woods away from hanging out with Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley in Las Vegas.
"Stay away from that son of a (bad word),'' Merchant allegedly said of Jordan. ``Because he doesn't have anything to offer to the (expletive) world in which he lives except playing basketball."
According to the article, Merchant also said: "Are they his black role models? You've got to be kidding me."
So it's official: Tiger Woods is no longer to blame for his marital problems! Let's give him a warm welcome back into our hearts.
Is the Tiger Woods Scandal a Sports Story?-
Recently, the Web site BloggingheadsTV asked me to come on and talk basketball. That's unusual because Bloggingheads usually focuses on politics, not sports. Then again, as managing editor Sang Ngo joked, the site did cover the Tiger Woods scandal.
This offhand joke raised a sort of philosophical question. Namely, is Tiger Woods a sports story? At first glance the question seems absurd, but it turns out to be a kind of Rorschach test, with your answer saying a lot about why you do, or don't, follow big-time American spectator sports.
Like any modern celebrity, professional athletes are paid to be in the public eye—to project an image, both on and off the field. Fans who love Tiger Woods and companies who pay him to endorse products aren't interested only in his golf game any more than people who care about Jennifer Aniston are only interested in her films.
For Woods, a non-white athlete dominating a historically segregated sport, the broader social implications of his career have always been immense. Woods's success, for instance, was unquestionably part of the process that helped Americans accept the idea of a non-white president. The revelations of infidelities, while certainly embarrassing and costly, only broadened his significance as a social figure. Woods has gone from symbol of athletic achievement and racial equality to a pretext for debate on virtually any topic at all.
You can see in Tiger's story whatever matters to you most. People interested in racial issues might notice that Tiger's sizeable sexual appetites don't seem big enough to include black women. Cheaters might realize their text messages don't magically disappear once they send them. Someone concerned about domestic violence might wonder why allegations that Elin Woods attacked her husband with a golf club (rumors Tiger angrily denies) became a source of so much sick humor. If a husband was suspected of beating his famous wife with a golf club, one wonders, would the jokes have seemed quite so funny?
Here, though, is where we find the Great Divide between sports fans and everyone else. Star athletes, like all celebrities, do serve a broader social function. For fans, though, the social implications of Woods or any other athlete are secondary at best. What matters to fans is what happens between the lines. Fans love sports for the spectacle, precision, and strategic thinking; for self-discipline, sacrifice, and grace under pressure. Fans, especially men, love sports for their celebration of raw, physical prowess—speed, strength, agility and endurance—the qualities of masculinity that an industrialized society no longer requires.
Whether Tiger's comeback is a sports story, then, really depends on who is doing the asking—or the watching. For the casual observer, Woods is interesting mostly for what he represents off the golf course. How he performs on it from this point forward, win or lose, can only be epilogue. For the fan, how he performs matters most, not because birdies bring redemption, but because the simple beauty of the game trumps all social discourse. The question, really, is whether you only care about Tiger Woods because he plays golf or you only care about golf because Tiger plays it.
