Absent host Tiger Woods remained very much on the minds of golfers at the Chevron World Challenge on Friday even as lurid speculation about his private life dwindled
Absent host Tiger Woods remained very much on the minds of golfers at the Chevron World Challenge on Friday even as lurid speculation about his private life dwindled. "Walking out of my room today, I had the newspaper at the front door wasn't even front page today," Ireland's three-time major champion Padraig Harrington said.
"That just says it all, doesn't it? Time moves on."
Woods' jealously guarded private life was thrust into the public spotlight last week in the wake of a strange car crash. He has been the subject of tabloid allegations of infidelity and internet celebrity gossip on the state of his relationship with his wife, Elin, finally issuing an admission himself of unnamed "personal sins".
Amid the furore, Woods skipped his annual charity event here, staying home in Florida to nurse the injuries he received in the accident. Harrington acknowledged that Woods' golf colleagues weren't immune to the story's pull. "We're watching, like everybody else," he said. "I think at this stage there's plenty of information out there now. I suppose there's less speculation, so it's kind of losing its interest.
"It's becoming much more of a personal matter for Tiger and Elin now." Of more interest to the golf world is how the player who has become the global face of the game will fare on his return to public life.
Woods won't return to competitive golf until next year, with his typical debut event in most seasons being at Torrey Pines in late January. So the world might not see until then how the scandal impacts upon the 14-time major champion whose quest since childhood has been to catch the record 18 major titles won by fellow legend Jack Nicklaus.
"The next big thing for Tiger is when he comes back out," Harrington said. "He probably has six or seven weeks to sort things out and then he'll have a barrage when he comes back out."
Perry rushes to Tiger's DefenseUS veteran Kenny Perry said the scrutiny Woods has faced was unfair. "What he did is definitely wrong, and I wouldn't have approved of it, but then again, half of America does it," Perry said. "It just hurts me to see everybody beat him up." As to how Woods would bounce back, Perry said.
"This will be interesting to see how he handles this." Perry noted that Woods has weathered criticism before.
