Woods Is Taking ‘Indefinite Break’

Woods Is Taking ‘Indefinite Break’
By LARRY DORMAN
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/sports/golf/12woods.html?_r=1&hp

Asking for understanding from his fans, business partners and fellow competitors on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods announced on his Web site Friday that he would be taking an “indefinite break from professional golf” to try to rebuild his personal life.

Woods, the top-ranked golfer in the world and the multimillion-dollar face for numerous companies that he endorses, has not been seen in public since crashing his SUV into a neighbor’s tree in an early-morning accident on Nov. 27. He has spent the last two weeks in his Orlando, Fla., area home, recovering from injuries and hearing a flood of reports of marital infidelities linking him to multiple women that have swamped the worldwide airwaves.

In his third statement since the accident drove him into seclusion, Woods again used his Web site to reiterate and amplify his apologies for the fallout from the alleged multiple affairs to which he has alluded without ever admitting.

“I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children,” Woods wrote. “I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try.

“I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding. What’s most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing.”

“After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf,” the statement continued. “I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.”

The PGA Tour issued a statement shortly after the announcement, voicing support for Woods, whose presence in a Tour event usually is a guarantee of double the television ratings of an event without him.

“We fully support Tiger’s decision to step away from competitive golf to focus on his family,” the Tour statement said. “His priorities are where they need to be, and we will continue to respect and honor his family’s request for privacy. We look forward to Tiger’s return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him.”

The reaction from one of the Tour’s television partners also was swift, but included the concern about the duration of Woods’s hiatus.

"We’ve obviously done golf tournaments without Tiger before,” said Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports and News, “but we all know how much better they do when Tiger is playing well on the weekend. We’ll adjust, but I guess a lot of it depends on what the definition of the word ‘indefinite’ is.”

Asked about whether there was a tradeoff between Woods not playing and him playing with the news media circus that would surely accompany his return, McManus said: “I’m not as concerned about missing the circus as I am about missing him on the golf course. When he was injured a year ago, we didn’t have him in the PGA Championship.”

“Golf is still a strong sport and we look forward to his return on the golf tour,” McManus added. “We’ll adjust and life will go on, but a tournament with Tiger Woods is a much bigger sport.”

Woods’s decision to take the break for an indeterminate period will likely shift the focus of speculation away from the almost daily updates on his dalliances to what date he will make his return to the sport he has dominated for since 1997.

His recent pattern has been to skip the season opener in Maui and the Sony Hawaiian Open and begin his United States schedule at the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course at the end of January. That event is scheduled for Jan. 28-31 in 2010. From there, to begin his run-up to the first major championship of the season at the Masters, Woods would normally play in the W.G.C.-Accenture World Match Play on Feb. 18-21, the W.G.C.-CA Championship at Doral March 11-14, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill March 25-28.

His next event would be the season’s first major championship, the Masters Tournament, at Augusta, Ga., April 8-11.

Under normal circumstances, the odds on a healthy Woods missing the year’s first major championship would be astronomical. But the circumstances that have ensued since the car accident have been anything but normal. Woods’s marital indiscretions have been the No. 1 topic of discussion on every outlet from internet postings to tabloid magazines at grocery checkouts to reports in the mainstream news media.

One No. 1-ranked golfer who has been though his share of domestic upheaval voiced his support of Woods on Friday. Greg Norman, who spoke to the Golf Channel in Naples at his Shark Shootout, sympathized with Woods for what he has been going through.

“I feel sorry for Tiger,” Norman said, “but he’s got to figure out his situation for himself personally. From the game of golf, I’m sure we’d like to see him back out there performing to the level he has played. He’s been a great asset to the game and he’ll continue to be that way.

“From a personal perspective, I wish him well. I hope he sorts it out — family is family and nobody likes to be in that position.”

Bloomberg News reported that Woods’s image was taken down Friday from the homepage of the Web site for Accenture Plc., the consulting company that has used him in its marketing since 2003.

There were no immediate reactions from any of Woods’s other sponsors, including Nike, AT&T, Gillette, Tag Heuer watches and Gatorade.

After Woods’s strong on-course performance in 2009 that included six victories, the expectation was for 2010 to be the year he added to his major championship victory total of 14 and resumed his chase of Jack Nicklaus’s record total of 18.

But that quest is now on hold indefinitely as Woods attempts to sort out the major damage done to his marriage by his off-course behavior.