Tiger Woods’ planned return to golf at the Masters drew plenty of criticism from the international press yesterday, and the most scathing comments came from Britain.
Daily Mirror columnist Oliver Holt questioned the top-ranked golfer’s reasons for coming back to play at Augusta National.
“How typical of the man to hijack the world’s most famous golf tournament,” Holt wrote. “How could he turn Augusta into a circus like this? Does his vanity know no limits?”
PHOTO: AFP
Woods drove his SUV into a tree outside his Florida home in November, an accident that set off sordid tales of extramarital affairs. Woods announced on Dec. 11 that he would take an indefinite break from golf to try to save his marriage, then made a public apology on Feb. 19.
“When he finally sticks his head above the parapet before a hungry media at Augusta National, don’t be surprised if he refuses to talk about anything relating to matters that predate Feb. 19 on the ingenuous grounds that he has already dealt with that,” Douglas Lowe wrote in the Scottish paper the Herald. “But let’s wait and see before reaching a conclusion.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Mark Reason called Woods a liar for making his return so soon after last month’s apology, where he took no questions.
“All that halting guff about maybe returning to golf one day was just a great big fib,” Reason wrote. “Tiger, Tiger, pants on fire, nose as long as a telephone wire. How will the kids believe in him now? Woods wouldn’t know the truth if it came wrapped in a polyurethane cover and had Nike stamped on it. He’d just want to know how much he could spin it.”
In the Toronto Star, columnist Dave Perkins made fun of Woods’ extramarital affairs.
“So that’s what Tiger Woods meant when he said he would be fighting the temptations: He’s coming back to golf at a club that doesn’t allow women,” Perkins wrote. “Bada-boom.”
In Sweden, the country of wife Elin Nordegren’s birth, Aftonbladet columnist Lasse Anrell wrote that Woods was in the clear to play golf again after “four months of mourning, four months of apologies, four months of crying, four months of healing.” But Anrell added that Woods needs to make a strong showing at the Masters to regain his status.
“He knows — just as well as all the media strategists and brand analysts — that he needs to win for this to be a really good resurrection of Tiger Woods The Brand,” Anrell wrote. “A 27th place will not be a hit for the brand strategists. It needs to be top three.”
Not everyone attacked Woods. French sports daily L’Equipe had only a small news story about Woods’ return, while Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport featured a full page on the announcement, saying the Masters was the natural place for him to come back.
“Apparently the expected onslaught of the media, curiosity seekers and fans has convinced [Woods] to return at the most important and most protected venue and for him the most familiar, skipping any warmup tournaments,” Gazzetta wrote. “Even if this increases the risks, especially for someone who is used to winning all the time.”
In Britain’s Daily Mail, Derek Lawrenson said Woods chose the Masters as come back because Augusta National would be able to keep the media at bay.
“All those showbiz Web sites that have plagued Woods’ life for the last three months would have more chance of an audience at the White House than gaining access at Augusta,” Lawrenson wrote.
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS