Golf:Tiger Woods is to break cover later this week. The world number one will hold a press conference at the PGA Tour headquarters at 11am on Friday morning, his first public appearance since revelations about his private life emerged last year.
But it is understood that Woods will be taking no questions from press and television reporters invited to attend.
He has been fighting to save his marriage to Swede Elin Nordegren and was reported to have attended a sex addiction clinic after his admission of “transgressions”.
A statement from Woods’ manager Mark Steinberg read: “Tiger Woods will be speaking to a small group of friends, colleagues and close associates at 11am (4pm Irish time) at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
“Tiger plans to discuss his past and his future and he intends to apologise for his behaviour. This will not be an open media event. However, it is understood that there are many media who are interested in what he has to say.
“In order to accommodate as best we can, we are working to arrange pool coverage of Tiger’s remarks. There will be network pool cameras providing coverage of his talk. The feed will be available live to any network or station that wishes to air it.
“A limited number of print and wire service reporters will be in attendance and will share their notes, colour and background on a pooled basis.”
The likeliest date for Woods’ return to the sport is the made-for-television Tavistock Cup match between the star-studded members of the Isleworth and Lake Nona clubs in Florida on March 22nd-23rd.
Woods plays at Isleworth and they are the hosts this year. He might follow it with his PGA Tour return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational later the same week.
The Masters, of course, is in April and if he plays there as well he will have the chance to move only three behind Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors — but what a different atmosphere his every appearance is going to have from now on.