Sorry Is The Hardest Word To Say As Tiger Breaks His Silence

The eyes of the Tiger were dulled as he sheepishly walked out into the epilepsy of the flashbulbs of the World’s papparazzi as he emerged from a hermit’s existence over the past few months looking less like a sporting superman, more like an ordinary mortal.

“Many of you in this room are my friends,many of you in this room know me.Many of you have cheered for me, or worked with me or have supported me. Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me.”

Over the next thirteen minutes he flirted with losing his composure as he apologised publicly to his wife for his adulterous behaviour with a string of women . “I was unfaithful, I had affairs and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable, I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation and kids all around the world who admired me.I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values I was taught to believe in.

I knew my actions were wrong but I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting, instead I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries a married couple should live by.I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me.

I felt I was entitled thanks to money and fame. I didn’t have to go far to find them. I was wrong and I was foolish.I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’ve done,My failures have made me look at myself in a way I’ve never wanted to before. It’s now up to me to make amends. And that starts by never repeating the mistakes I’ve made.

It’s up to me to start living a life of integrity. It’s hard to admit that I need help but I do.For 45 days from the end of December to early February I was in in-patient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I’m facing. I have a long way to go. I have taken my first steps in the right direction.”

Woods revealed that he goes back into therapy immediately and gave no timescale on his likely return to the sport to add to his 14 Majors. As an outside observer Woods looked a contrite man but seemed broken & humble as he made his statement to the small gathering. Ever since that infamous night in November when a minor traffic accident almost destroyed a brilliant sporting career without a blemish Woods’ life has seemed at times like a badly written Country & Western song as his alleged lovers seemed to be operating a tabloid version of a revolving door as each day another stripper or exotic dancer (is there a difference?), came out to claim she had been polishing Tiger’s clubs or rubbing Woods’ woods or whatever the tabloid euphemism was that day. To hear the lurid stories day in, day out I started to ponder how the hell the poor chap had the energy to dominate his sport and smiled wryly while thinking that yet again it just goes to show that nobody’s perfect. The jokes started to tumble out into the blogosphere, my favourite had to be “What have Tiger & baby seals got in common?- they’ve both been clubbed by Norwegians” & the classic but simple “Why did Tiger hit a hydrant & a tree? He couldn’t decide between an iron & a wood” It gave us all a chance to laugh at a sporting billionaire’s misfortune, how his hubris had got the better of him and how like most guys he’d spent most of his time thinking with his reproductive organ rather than with his far more astute brain. It showe us all that Tiger may be held up there as a sporting icon & quite rightly so, but he is just a man who makes mistakes like the rest of us but he has had to do it with millions watching like a real life sporting soap opera which has had tongues wagging in the differing languages of the world about how could he get away with it for so long? No one expected it from Tiger and although he will be forever tarnished by these events I for one would say that I wish him well in life & in sport- everyone makes mistakes & forgiveness is a gift that he deserves for the dignity he has shown during his darkest hours. We await the return of the Tiger’s roar with anticipation unequalled.

Bob "The Voice" McKenzie Twitter: @BobTheVoice About: