Tiger Explains His Commitment To Safeway And Then A WD

I listened to Tiger's press conference on satellite radio and have read many of the takes from his big return to the media center stage. He sounds like the old, confident Tiger comfortable in his skin and in his ability. But also also threw out the usual bingo board jargon and a few weird answers that make you wonder.

For me, it was hard to reconcile his answer about WD'ing from the Safeway Open with any image of a more mature, responsible Tiger Woods.

Jay Coffin at GolfChannel.com with the answer.

“One, the Ryder Cup helped a lot in the sense that I got a chance to be out there with the guys and see it and feel it and experience it,” he said. “Two, it hurt me by not being able to practice for a week.”

Which then led to a Friday commitment before?!

Here's where flags really rise...

Woods said that he could’ve played Safeway with limited go-to shots in his arsenal but it wasn’t worth the risk to do that on a golf course he hasn’t played since his college days, 20 years ago.

It's Silverado, not St. Andrews!

“As hard as it was on me to take it off and pull out of the event, it was a smart thing to do even though as a competitive athlete it killed me,” Woods said. “But if I’ve waited at the time, what, 13 months, what’s another couple more months? So let’s be a little patient, a little easier on myself, a little smarter and let’s come back when things are a little more together.”

So he wasn't ready. We all would have understood.

Why not just admit that it was a blunder, apologize for entering on a Friday before withdrawing on Monday after a bad weekend, and beg for the forgiveness of those who planned on attending to see you?