Kuwait Times

Published Date: December 02, 2009

THOUSAND OAK: Tiger Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from a car crash near his Florida home. He said he would not compete again until next year. Woods said in a statement on his Web site that his injuries prevented him from playing in the Chevron World Challenge, which he hosts annually for a small, invited, field. "I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry that
I can't be there." His decision to withdraw comes after a car crash left him with cuts and bruises when his SUV hit a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m. Friday outside his home in an exclusive, gated community near Orlando. Woods was treated and released from a hospital after the accident, and has not been seen in public since.

By skipping the tournament, Woods will escape having to face TV cameras and a horde of media seeking more details about the smashup. The tournament was to be the last of the year for Woods anyway, but he did not say just when he would make his return next year. The first tournament of the 2010 PGA Tour is the SBS Championship, a tournament for winners from the previous year, in Hawaii beginning Jan 7.

Woods released a statement Sunday saying the accident was his fault, but he did not address any of the questions still swirling around it. He asked that it remain "a private matter," but with the Florida Highway Patrol still investigating and the media in full pursuit, Woods may not get his way. Woods even faced questions from fans leaving comments on his own Web site. Most voiced support for the world's No 1 golfer, but some said he should address the questions about his own actions and those of his wife,
Elin Nordegren, before and after the accident.

Woods hasn't answered questions from Florida troopers, either, turning them down three days in a row. Meanwhile, the tabloid-fueled rumors continue to swirl around perhaps the richest and most-recognizable athletes in the world. Four cars were parked in Woods' driveway Monday, but no lights appeared to be on inside. A new fire hydrant had already replaced the one that Woods plowed into. A dirt hole and an orange barricade remained in the old hydrant's place.

A woman at the address listed on a FHP news release as the scene of the crash, told the Orlando Sentinel that her husband didn't call emergency responders, but that someone else in the house did. The tape of the call was released Sunday. The Associated Press called the home of Linda and Jerome Adams on Monday morning and asked to speak with the Adams' son. The woman who answered the telephone told a reporter to call back later in the day. When the AP called back Monday evening, attorney Bill Sharpe answere
d and said he was representing the family.

He said there was no comment at this time, but said a statement might be made Tuesday. Woods, who both hosts and plays in the Chevron World Challenge, was there last year even though he couldn't play because he was recovering from knee surgery. His absence this year will be the first since the tournament - which has only an 18-player field - began in 1999. He was replaced by Graeme McDowell.

Only a few players were at Sherwood Country Club late Monday afternoon. Padraig Harrington was on the golf course and didn't get word until later that the host was not going to be there. "It would be a nice opportunity this time of year to go head-to-head with him, but it's not to be," the Irishman said.

He said Woods' absence would be felt all week, until the back nine on Sunday when the focus probably will shift to who's winning the event, and the $1.35 million prize. Though he cited injuries from the accident in withdrawing from the tournament, Woods didn't specifically say what those injuries included. The neighbor, who called 911 after Woods ran over the hydrant and hit a tree, said he was unconscious and laying outside his SUV. His wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back w
indows to help him out.

Woods' only public comment has been via two statements released on his Web site, one saying the accident was his fault alone and the second saying he was withdrawing from the tournament. "This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way," Woods said. Still, even the release of the 911 tape and Woods' statement failed to answer several basic questions about the accident:
- Where he was going at that time of the night? -- How did he lose control of his SUV when it wasn't going fast enough to deploy airbags?
- Why were both rear windows of the Cadillac Escalade smashed?
- If it was a careless mistake, why not speak to state troopers trying to wrap the investigation?

Meanwhile, companies like Nike Inc are not expected to sever their ties with golfer Tiger Woods, who has sponsorship deals worth an estimated $100 million a year, after his weekend car accident, analysts and consultants said Monday. Early returns showed companies are standing by the popular golfer. "Tiger Woods is one of the premier athletes in the world and we are proud to have him involved with NetJets," David Sokol, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc's NetJets private jet unit, said in an e-mail
statement.

Nike Golf global public relations manager Beth Gast echoed that sentiment: "Tiger and his family have Nike's full support." Woods, whom Forbes magazine recently said had become the first athlete to earn more than $1 billion in his career, crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and tree outside his mansion in Florida early Friday morning. Sunday, the 33-year-old golfer said in a statement that he was embarrassed by the accident.

Woods, considered the best golfer of his generation, has had numerous sponsorship deals through the years for everything from Nike to automobiles to shave creams to sports drinks. Officials with PepsiCo Inc brand Gatorade "look forward to seeing him back on the course soon. Our partnership with Tiger continues," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Major player on and off the greens
Consultants said Woods' popularity and long record of dominance on the professional golf tour, as well as his charitable activities, make any sponsor defections unlikely. "It doesn't matter as things stand today," said Marc Ganis, president of consulting firm Sportscorp Ltd. "We'll see what the future brings, (but) he is the reason golf is still on the map. He's got a heck of a lot of chits in his ledger.

It is not clear what led up to Woods' early morning accident, but there has been speculation he and his wife were arguing shortly before the crash. However, any new reports are not likely to shake sponsors' faith in Woods. "Unless something comes up that would be completely out of left field, I don't see any sponsor getting out of a current deal with Tiger because of this situation," said Robert Boland, professor of sports management at New York University.

Doug Shabelman, president of Burns Entertainment, which matches celebrities with corporate sponsors, agreed. "It's going to have very little impact on Tiger's current and future earnings potential unless something extraordinary is uncovered," he said. "He's built up enough goodwill that people will give him the benefit of the doubt.

Procter & Gamble Co's Gillette declined to comment on its deal with Woods. Other sponsors, including AT&T Inc, Electronic Arts Inc, TLC Vision Corp, Upper Deck, Tag Heuer and Accenture could not be reached. One area where analysts said Woods' usually well-honed public relations skills slipped was his delayed and limited response Sunday. More of the same could still be damaging to him, they said.

He canceled press conference yesterday after saying he would not play in the Chevron World Challenge that he hosts near Los Angeles and which benefits his charitable foundation. "He missed an opportunity right away to take control of the story," said Paul Argenti, professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. "The longer he lets this go, the lower the reservoir (of goodwill) is getting." - Agencies