Tiger Woods

Every so often, Tiger Woods has seemed, well, human. Not the guy who walked on water in the EA Sports ad. Or the robot who refused to crack a smile while clubbing the field by 15 shots at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Two such moments stand out: In 2006, Woods didn't play between the Masters and U.S. Open while mourning his father, Earl. Observers recall that Woods looked sharp in practice rounds for the Open but had trouble focusing during the main event. He shot 76-76, missing the cut in a major for the first time in his professional career.

Tiger Woods will be holding a news conference this afternoon at Congressional Country Club to promote the return of his AT&T National tournament. The event moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia last summer while theU.S. Open was being played at the Bethesda club. In researching a story for Tuesday's newspaper, I came across an interesting stat: Woods is currently in the worst three-tournament stretch of his legendary 16-year career. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March by five shots -- prompting even the cynical Johnny Miller to proclaim that "He's back!"

Tiger Woods will be holding a news conference this afternoon at Congressional Country Club to promote the return of his AT&T National tournament. The event moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia last summer while theU.S. Open was being played at the Bethesda club. In researching a story for Tuesday's newspaper, I came across an interesting stat: Woods is currently in the worst three-tournament stretch of his legendary 16-year career. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March by five shots -- prompting even the cynical Johnny Miller to proclaim that "He's back!"

BETHESDA - A victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March seemed to signal Tiger Woods' return to a short list of the world's best golfers. His five-shot win was reminiscent of what Woods had done for more than a decade - right down to the signature fist pump. That victory - his first in 2 ½ years on the PGA Tour and his 72nd overall - seems almost as distant as his last major championship, nearly four years ago at theU.S. Open. The win has been quickly overshadowed by what has been the worst three-tournament stretch of Woods' legendary career.

Tiger Woods is receiving treatment at a sex rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi, according to Benoit Denizet-Lewis, the author of a book titled "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life." He's also a recovering sex addict and wrote in his blog Monday that Woods was in a Hattiesburg clinic, citing an unnamed source. Officials at the clinic have not confirmed that Woods is there. Denizet-Lewis has written for the New York Times Magazine, and spent some time at the same clinic, Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services, a few years ago. He wrote that the programs at the clinic include group therapy sessions and family and couple's therapy.

Tiger Woods' estimated endorsements for 2010 are worth $22 million less than last year, according to Sports Illustrated's annual analysis of the highest-earning American athletes. Woods is still No. 1 on the list, as he has been for the rankings' seven years, but his estimated total earnings of more than $90 million are down 30 percent from nearly $128 million two years ago. Phil Mickelson is again No. 2 with total earnings of more than $61 million. His estimated endorsement income is $52 million; Woods' is $70 million.

A more human Woods Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel This was a Tiger Woods we had never seen. Human. Sincere. Contrite. Within the admittedly cool and controlling confines of his personality, he seemed like a person trying to get his patch of life in order. He said all that could be said. He used words like "deeply sorry" and "irresponsible" and "selfish." He said, "I'm the only one to blame." He also gave as good and simple an explanation of how he lost his way. "I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me," he said.

Won't be a contender Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune Last I checked, Tiger Woods is not a faucet. He can't simply be turned on (pun intended) or off in a matter of seconds. So given the length of his absence, the sense that his personal life remains a mess, the fact that Augusta National is one of the world's most difficult courses, the reality that he has not won here since 2005 and the difficulty he has had during practice rounds (he has hit some nasty hooks)

Back in simpler times, the week before the British Open offered a chance for Tiger Woods to decompress a little. A time to breathe in the bliss of a summer Irish morning, be it fly-fishing with buddy Mark O'Meara or a quick 18 at someplace like Portmarnock or Royal County Down. Get adjusted to the time change, get acclimated to links golf, arrive fresh and recharged. Compare that with Tuesday's strained exchange between Woods and a media questioner after his 26-hour trans-Atlantic stopover in Ireland for a charity tournament.

Tiger Woods is on the course today at Augusta National, where he will be shooting for his first major title in nearly three years. You might have heard by now that he got into some hot water away from the course during that span. Apparently, Tiger likes the ladies. Since a slew of extramarital affairs came to light after he crashed his SUV into a tree in November 2009, Woods has been trying to clean up his image and his golf game (my colleague Kevin Van Valkenburg wrote an excellent piece about the Tiger Woods saga yesterday)

Tiger Woods, welcome to my world. You say the PGA Tour needs to speed up the pace of play? Try playing a round of golf on the weekend on the kind of courses where hackers like me play. By the third hole, when the course is backed up like the JFX during the morning rush hour, your head will be ready to explode. Under six hours? Not a chance. You might as well pitch a tent -- you'll be there all day. Everyone's talking about all the waggles Kevin Na broke out during The Players Championship last weekend.

Nearly a year ago, I wrote that Tiger Woods could become the next Ken Griffey Jr ., a transcendant athlete who turned mortal before rewriting the history books of their respective sports. Instead of breaking their sport's most sacred record, they broke down physically. I said at the time that I didn't think Woods would win another major championship, and maybe not another regular PGA Tour event. Woods recently proved me wrong on one account - his 5-shot win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks ago reminiscent of many of his 71 previous tour victories.

News Roundup   •••• "Angry Birds Space" did more than 10 million downloads in under three days. In my professional opinion, that's a lot of flippin' downloads. [ @ AngryBirds ] •••• Some simultaneous details about the Wii U and “Assassin's Creed III” have been revealed. With so much synergy being promoted between titles like “AC3” and “Ninja Gaiden III” and Nintendo's new console it seems that the image of “kids and families only” might be one Nintendo is looking to shed.

It all looked so familiar Sunday -- except when it didn't. There was Tiger Woods on the 18th green at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Same good-luck red shirt as always on the final day. Same enthusiastic -- even adoring -- crowds cheering his every move. Same look of grim determination on his face when he needed to concentrate. But when he sank his final putt for a 2-under-par 70 to officially win the tournament by five strokes over Graeme McDowell and end 30 months of no wins on the PGA Tour, we saw a different reaction from Tiger than we'd seen in the past.

No pact, no problem Diane Pucin Los Angeles Times Maybe Tiger Woods should write a book about Hank Haney. Maybe he should just be quiet until he actually reads Hank Haney's book, "The Big Miss," that will be released March 27, the beginning of Masters week, and it is about the six years when Haney was Woods' swing coach. Unless Woods or his more likely his agent Mark Steinberg, have Haney's signature on a non-disclosure agreement, well, too bad Tiger.

A barber's chair sits in the locker room of the TPC Sawgrass — a confessional of sorts during the early days of The Players Championship, when wind-battered pros trudged in and were compelled to regale their peers with their worst hole of the day. If this season keeps on its current track, the standard PGA Tour interview room is going to come equipped with a psychiatrist's couch. Two weeks ago, it was Kyle Stanley holding back tears after watching a three-shot lead go glub-glub in the waters alongside Torrey Pines' 18th green.

The wife of world No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods used one of his tools - a golf club - to smash open a window of his crashed SUV and then pulled him out of the damaged vehicle after an early-morning accident Friday outside their Isleworth mansion. By the time a Windermere police officer arrived on the scene about 2:25 a.m., Elin Nordegren Woods had dragged her husband out of his 2009 Cadillac Escalade. He was lying on the ground, dazed and bleeding from his lips and with blood in his mouth, Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn said.

ORLANDO, Fla. - At first Arnold Palmer said he would keep an opinion regarding Tiger Woods to himself. Then he let it out. "The best thing he can do is to open up and let a bunch of guys shoot at him," Palmer said. "That's just my thought." Translation: Palmer believes Woods should sit down with a full contingent of reporters and answer questions about his four-plus-month absence from the PGA Tour, which was brought on by a sex scandal. "That might be the best way to move on," Palmer added.

"Pretty unbelievable. " That's how Keegan Bradley, 25, sums up his exceptional rookie year on the PGA Tour as the golfer heads to Southern California this week for Tiger Woods' charity tournament, formally known as the Chevron World Challenge. A year ago Bradley, a nephew of LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Pat Bradley, was toiling in anonymity on the sport's second-level Nationwide Tour. But after joining the PGA Tour this season, Bradley had two wins, including the PGA Championship, one of golf's four majors, in a playoff at the Atlanta Athletic Club in August.

A California man made headlines Sunday when he chucked a hot dog at Tiger Woods as he lined up a putt at the Frys.com Open. If you didn't think the guy was insane for doing so, you will when you hear his explanation. “I threw the hot dog toward Tiger Woods because I was inspired by the movie 'Drive,'" Brandon Kelly, 31, told Julie Johnson of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat . “As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, 'I have to do something courageous and epic. I have to throw a hot dog on the green in front of Tiger.'” Oh, well that clears that up. Here's one more crazy quote from the hot-dog hurler, who claims to be a Tiger Woods fan: “I honestly wish Tiger the best,” Kelly said.