Tiger Woods promete regresar al golf
El deportista se disculpó públicamente por ser "irresponsable y egoísta" al engañar a su esposa; considerado uno de los mejores golfistas de la historia, no dio fecha de su regreso a los campos.
Uno de los golfistas mejor pagados en la historia regresará algún día a los campos verdes. (Foto: AP)
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Estados Unidos (Reuters) — El golfista estadounidense Tiger Woods se disculpó el viernes públicamente por su infidelidad y expresó vergüenza por lo que dijo ser un comportamiento "irresponsable y egoísta", destacando que volverá al circuito sin especificar cuándo.
"Fui infiel (...), cometí infidelidades. Lo que hice es inaceptable y soy el único culpable", dijo Woods en su primera aparición pública desde que admitió en diciembre haber engañado a su esposa Elin y anunció que se tomaba un descanso indefinido del deporte.
El golfista estadounidense, una de las personalidades deportivas más acaudaladas del planeta, recibía unos 100 millones de dólares al año en acuerdos publicitarios. Algunas compañías, como AT&T y Accenture, dejaron sin efecto los contratos que los unían al golfista.
El deportista, de 34 años, destacó el viernes que volverá a jugar algún día, pero no aclaró la fecha de su retorno.
"Planeo volver a jugar al golf algún día, pero no sé cuándo será. No descarto que sea este año", explicó.
Woods defendió a su esposa y negó las especulaciones de prensa al afirmar que "nunca hubo una situación de violencia doméstica (en nuestra familia)".
Los rumores se generaron después de un extraño accidente de auto que involucró al golfista número uno del mundo en noviembre del 2009, en las afueras de su casa en Florida en medio de la noche.
"Elin nunca me pegó esa noche ni ninguna otra noche", explicó Woods, quien habló ante periodistas en las oficinas centrales del circuito de la PGA en Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Woods, uno de los mejores golfistas de la historia y quien era una de las figuras más atractivas para los patrocinadores, dijo que estuvo en terapia 45 días y que le queda "un largo camino por recorrer".
El golfista destacó que el sábado volvería al centro de tratamiento, del que no dio ningún dato.
Woods destacó que lo que ocurrió es fundamentalmente una cuestión entre él y su esposa, pero reconoció que ha lastimado y decepcionado a otras personas cercanas a él.
El deportista había sido aconsejado por sus colegas y por expertos en relaciones públicas para que ofrezca una disculpa pública antes de volver a competir, y muchos de ellos le sugirieron que además debería presentarse en una entrevista por televisión.
Woods, cuya imagen pulcra se vio demolida por una serie de alegatos sobre su vida privada, se sometió a un tratamiento por adicción sexual en Mississippi, según reportes de prensa. Después de eso regresó a su hogar de Orlando, donde se cree que él y su esposa sueca, Elin, viven separados.
Apologizing, Woods Sets No Date for Return to Golf
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By HARVEY ARATON
Published: February 19, 2010
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In his first public appearance after the November head-on collision of his squeaky clean image and an unsavory secret life, Tiger Woods was somber in expressing remorse, stern in scolding the news media for stalking his family and reporting untruths, and spiritual in saying he had drifted from the Buddhist principles he was taught as a child.
Enlarge This Image
Pool Photo by Joe Skipper
Tiger Woods apologized on Friday for marital infidelity and said he was unsure when he would return to golf.
Related
Full Transcript of Tiger Woods's Statement (February 20, 2010)
Players See Sincerity, but Many Just Prepare to Play (February 20, 2010)
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Schedule/Results
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L.P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Champions
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Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
European
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Enlarge This Image
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Reporters listened as Woods made a statement at the Sunset Room at TPC Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour, on Friday.
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In front of about 40 inner-circle people that included his mother, Kultida, but not his wife, Elin, along with a national television audience, Woods made his most direct statement about admitted infidelities in his marriage.
"I had affairs," he said. "I was unfaithful. I cheated."
Woods said he had mistakenly believed that his enormous success and celebrity made him entitled "to enjoy all the temptations around me." He added: "I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules."
While creating the impression that his marriage hung in the balance, Woods vigorously defended his wife and refuted reports and speculation that domestic violence had played a role in the episode outside his home in the early-morning hours on Nov. 27 that resulted in Woods's crashing his sport utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree in the gated community of Isleworth, an Orlando, Fla., suburb.
"Elin never hit me that night or any other night," he said, as his voice rose and his face hardened. "There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout the ordeal."
Devoid of his ubiquitous Nike cap, Woods wore a dark sport coat and light-blue shirt with the collar open. He spoke for almost 15 minutes at a lectern in front of a blue curtain. Three wire service reporters were permitted to watch but not ask questions at the T.P.C. Sawgrass clubhouse near the Professional Golf Association's headquarters. The rest of a news media contingent, which was 300 strong and included journalists from Japan, Australia and Norway, jammed into two ballrooms at the Marriott Sawgrass resort to watch the tightly controlled event.
Acknowledging reports that he had undergone counseling for 45 days, Woods said he would continue the treatment beginning Saturday. He did not reveal the nature of the counseling.
Woods also did not address a return to the PGA Tour until near the end of his statement, saying: "I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."
That hedge was interpreted as a positive sign by the PGA Tour commissioner, Tim Finchem. "The good news today is that he does plan to return and could return this year," Finchem said in a news conference afterward.
But in raising the possibility of a return sooner rather than later, Woods also treaded on his Tour colleagues merely with the timing of his reappearance, before the third round of a match play tournament in Arizona, sponsored by Accenture — a company that dropped Woods as its spokesman in the wake of his sensational fall from grace.
In a letter to the PGA Tour policy board, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Finchem struck a mollifying tone in explaining why the event was held Friday. He wrote that "Tiger's therapy called for a week's break at this time" and that "accordingly, there was very little flexibility in the date for the announcement."
During Finchem's news conference Friday, when he called Woods an "American hero," he also said he understood why Woods had chosen such a tightly controlled format as the first step in a lengthy process to heal himself, possibly his marriage and his relationship with the public.
"Candidly, what else do we need to know, at this point?" he said.
But the offer by the Woods camp to have three golf writers attend was rejected by the Golf Writers Association of America because the group did not want its members to be "used as props, standing in the back of the room, lending credibility to a staged presentation," said Vartan Kupelian, the association's president.
The three reporters who were inside the T.P.C. Sawgrass clubhouse were from The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg News. They arrived about 10 minutes before Woods appeared to speak to find the audience seated in three rows. "It was like church, very somber," Doug Ferguson of The A.P. said.
In the back row sat Tour officials. Woods's mother was in the front, flanked by two Woods employees, Amy Reynolds and Kathy Battaglia. Nearby was his former college roommate at Stanford, Notah Begay III, a golfer on the PGA Tour.
Woods spoke in a calm, measured tone, beginning by addressing the unthreatening environment he had insisted on. "Many of you in this room are my friends," he said. "Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered me or you've worked for me or you've supported me."
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Single Page
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By HARVEY ARATON
Published: February 19, 2010
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In his first public appearance after the November head-on collision of his squeaky clean image and an unsavory secret life, Tiger Woods was somber in expressing remorse, stern in scolding the news media for stalking his family and reporting untruths, and spiritual in saying he had drifted from the Buddhist principles he was taught as a child.
Enlarge This Image
Pool Photo by Joe Skipper
Tiger Woods apologized on Friday for marital infidelity and said he was unsure when he would return to golf.
Related
Full Transcript of Tiger Woods's Statement (February 20, 2010)
Players See Sincerity, but Many Just Prepare to Play (February 20, 2010)
P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
L.P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Champions
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
European
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Enlarge This Image
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Reporters listened as Woods made a statement at the Sunset Room at TPC Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour, on Friday.
Readers' Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Read All Comments (638) »
In front of about 40 inner-circle people that included his mother, Kultida, but not his wife, Elin, along with a national television audience, Woods made his most direct statement about admitted infidelities in his marriage.
"I had affairs," he said. "I was unfaithful. I cheated."
Woods said he had mistakenly believed that his enormous success and celebrity made him entitled "to enjoy all the temptations around me." He added: "I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules."
While creating the impression that his marriage hung in the balance, Woods vigorously defended his wife and refuted reports and speculation that domestic violence had played a role in the episode outside his home in the early-morning hours on Nov. 27 that resulted in Woods's crashing his sport utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree in the gated community of Isleworth, an Orlando, Fla., suburb.
"Elin never hit me that night or any other night," he said, as his voice rose and his face hardened. "There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout the ordeal."
Devoid of his ubiquitous Nike cap, Woods wore a dark sport coat and light-blue shirt with the collar open. He spoke for almost 15 minutes at a lectern in front of a blue curtain. Three wire service reporters were permitted to watch but not ask questions at the T.P.C. Sawgrass clubhouse near the Professional Golf Association's headquarters. The rest of a news media contingent, which was 300 strong and included journalists from Japan, Australia and Norway, jammed into two ballrooms at the Marriott Sawgrass resort to watch the tightly controlled event.
Acknowledging reports that he had undergone counseling for 45 days, Woods said he would continue the treatment beginning Saturday. He did not reveal the nature of the counseling.
Woods also did not address a return to the PGA Tour until near the end of his statement, saying: "I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."
That hedge was interpreted as a positive sign by the PGA Tour commissioner, Tim Finchem. "The good news today is that he does plan to return and could return this year," Finchem said in a news conference afterward.
But in raising the possibility of a return sooner rather than later, Woods also treaded on his Tour colleagues merely with the timing of his reappearance, before the third round of a match play tournament in Arizona, sponsored by Accenture — a company that dropped Woods as its spokesman in the wake of his sensational fall from grace.
In a letter to the PGA Tour policy board, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Finchem struck a mollifying tone in explaining why the event was held Friday. He wrote that "Tiger's therapy called for a week's break at this time" and that "accordingly, there was very little flexibility in the date for the announcement."
During Finchem's news conference Friday, when he called Woods an "American hero," he also said he understood why Woods had chosen such a tightly controlled format as the first step in a lengthy process to heal himself, possibly his marriage and his relationship with the public.
"Candidly, what else do we need to know, at this point?" he said.
But the offer by the Woods camp to have three golf writers attend was rejected by the Golf Writers Association of America because the group did not want its members to be "used as props, standing in the back of the room, lending credibility to a staged presentation," said Vartan Kupelian, the association's president.
The three reporters who were inside the T.P.C. Sawgrass clubhouse were from The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg News. They arrived about 10 minutes before Woods appeared to speak to find the audience seated in three rows. "It was like church, very somber," Doug Ferguson of The A.P. said.
In the back row sat Tour officials. Woods's mother was in the front, flanked by two Woods employees, Amy Reynolds and Kathy Battaglia. Nearby was his former college roommate at Stanford, Notah Begay III, a golfer on the PGA Tour.
Woods spoke in a calm, measured tone, beginning by addressing the unthreatening environment he had insisted on. "Many of you in this room are my friends," he said. "Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered me or you've worked for me or you've supported me."
He paused and added, "Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me." He proceeded to lambaste himself as "selfish" and "foolish." He said he had betrayed his carefully crafted image as a person to look up to.
Related
Full Transcript of Tiger Woods's Statement (February 20, 2010)
Players See Sincerity, but Many Just Prepare to Play (February 20, 2010)
P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
L.P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Champions
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
European
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
"Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids," he said. "I owe all those families a special apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry."
How Woods's first step will play to the audience at large remains to be seen, but two companies — Upper Deck and TAG Heuer — released statements saying that they were encouraged by Woods's statement and that their relationships with him would continue.
While some of the players at the Accenture tournament refused comment, others offered understanding and support.
"I've got a couple of good friends at home that have gone through the alcohol-abuse program with A.A., and similar steps are taken in the healing process where you have to make amends to the people you've hurt, and you have to start the bridge to the other side," Stewart Cink said. "And I think that's where Tiger is. It sounded heartfelt to me."
Ben Crane said: "I thought it was an amazing conference. I thought Tiger was very humble. And, you know what? I think we all love him as a golfer and as a family man. And we want to see what's best for him, and I think everything he did is going to help him get back soon and help him."
The strongest support for Woods came from Kultida Woods, who tearfully embraced her emotional son when he finished his statement. "I'm so proud to be his mom, period," she said. "As a human being, everyone has faults, makes missteps and learns from it."
Picking up on Woods's theme of a news media witch hunt, she said: "He didn't kill anybody. He didn't do anything illegal."
In the weeks and months ahead, even after he returns to the sport he has dominated for years, Woods's sincerity will be debated over and over. But however staged his statement, there was one undeniable truth spoken by Woods regarding the state of his marriage and his reputation as he tries to go forward.
It was a profound message he said came from his wife, not a speechwriter.
"As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words," he said. "It will come from my behavior over time."
Related
Full Transcript of Tiger Woods's Statement (February 20, 2010)
Players See Sincerity, but Many Just Prepare to Play (February 20, 2010)
P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
L.P.G.A.
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
Champions
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
European
Leader Board
Schedule/Results
Stats | Earnings
"Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids," he said. "I owe all those families a special apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry."
How Woods's first step will play to the audience at large remains to be seen, but two companies — Upper Deck and TAG Heuer — released statements saying that they were encouraged by Woods's statement and that their relationships with him would continue.
While some of the players at the Accenture tournament refused comment, others offered understanding and support.
"I've got a couple of good friends at home that have gone through the alcohol-abuse program with A.A., and similar steps are taken in the healing process where you have to make amends to the people you've hurt, and you have to start the bridge to the other side," Stewart Cink said. "And I think that's where Tiger is. It sounded heartfelt to me."
Ben Crane said: "I thought it was an amazing conference. I thought Tiger was very humble. And, you know what? I think we all love him as a golfer and as a family man. And we want to see what's best for him, and I think everything he did is going to help him get back soon and help him."
The strongest support for Woods came from Kultida Woods, who tearfully embraced her emotional son when he finished his statement. "I'm so proud to be his mom, period," she said. "As a human being, everyone has faults, makes missteps and learns from it."
Picking up on Woods's theme of a news media witch hunt, she said: "He didn't kill anybody. He didn't do anything illegal."
In the weeks and months ahead, even after he returns to the sport he has dominated for years, Woods's sincerity will be debated over and over. But however staged his statement, there was one undeniable truth spoken by Woods regarding the state of his marriage and his reputation as he tries to go forward.
It was a profound message he said came from his wife, not a speechwriter.
"As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words," he said. "It will come from my behavior over time."
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