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Woods a picture of relief after media grilling
The joyless look in Tiger Woods' eyes said it all. It is one thing for the fallen hero to say he is trying to "become a better person" but convincing the media and public is another matter entirely.
The joyless look in Tiger Woods' eyes said it all. It is one thing for the fallen hero to say he is trying to "become a better person" but convincing the media and public is another matter entirely.
At St Andrews on Tuesday, the most eagerly anticipated news conference the Old Course has hosted in years was packed to the rafters as Woods addressed the world's media for the first time on British soil since last year's tawdry revelations about his private life.
From the moment the world No 1 was ushered by his entourage into the press marquee via a side entrance -- avoiding the gauntlet of the massed ranks of reporters, photographers and film crews -- the game of cat and mouse had begun.
Wearing a grey sweater, black slacks and blue shirt, the greatest golfer of this or arguably any other era nervously sipped at a bottle of water, all too aware of the polite grilling he was about to endure.
Then a gulf as big as the Atlantic emerged among the press corps; the American journalists quizzing him on golf, the Europeans on his private life.
It is a measure of the spectacular, public unravelling of his life that the 14-times Major winner is grilled not on his form or memories of St Andrews, where he has twice won British Opens, but on the impact a string of sexual dalliances has had on his approach on and off the course.
This week Woods is attempting to become the first player to win three Opens at the home of golf, he is an overwhelming favourite with the bookies to win a fourth Claret Jug and is the man they all fear when the field gathers for Thursday's opening round. But that was all a sideshow. One reporter asked if he had fulfilled a self-imposed obligation to interact with the crowd more? "I have," he tersely deadpanned. Another reporter asked if Woods' divorce had come through? "I'm not going into that," he replied.
Public Image
Did his changed public image affect his chances here? "It doesn't impact on it at all," said the world No 1. Three times Woods repeated his mantra: "I'm just trying to be a better person."
His 40-minute ordeal over, Woods was a picture of relief as he left, a lone reporter applauding him before the consternation of the press pack brought the clapping to an abrupt halt.
Woods expects good reception
Woods says he’s always been treated well by the fans in Scotland and expects nothing different this week as he plays in his first British Open since a sex scandal tarnished his reputation.
“The Scottish fans have always been fantastic. They've been great to me over the years, and I wouldn't see anything different than what they've been over the years,” he said.
Woods is still seeking his first win since cheated on his wife.
