"We're being given the runaround."

Nick Allen in the Telegraph offers an update on the possible warrant situation and shares some insight from a "police source" about the tone of the investigation.

Officers from the Florida Highway Patrol want to establish whether Woods' facial injuries were caused by the incident, in which he hit a fire hydrant and a tree outside his mansion at 2am, or a domestic violence incident.

Last night two officers were seen visiting Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, Florida, where Woods was treated following the accident on Friday.

Police also want to see if the moments leading up to the crash was captured by security cameras at Woods' £1.5 million mansion in a gated community in Orlando, Florida.

Woods, 33, the world's number one golfer, and his wife Elin Nordegren, 29, have declined three times to speak to patrol officers about the crash.

They are under no legal obligation to do so but their decision has been described as "unusual" by police and led to a swirl of speculation about the circumstances of the crash.

A Florida police source said: "There is a feeling that the police are being made to look foolish in this matter.

"They have tried to be accommodating but it has been thrown back in their face. Tiger has refused to help on three occasions. We're being given the runaround."

TMZ now has what it claims is an accident eyewitness account.

And Lawrence Donegan files an in depth look at Tiger's backstory and how it plays into the media handling of the accident, with yet another excellent reminder of how best to deal with these things:

If modern media manners have taught us anything, it is that nothing works as well as the swift mea culpa. Woods, an avid sports fan, will know only too well about the case of baseball star Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, who, after repeated denials he had used performance-enhancing drugs, was revealed before the start of the 2009 baseball season to have tested positive for steroids.

Stephanie Wei takes a look at the media coverage and in particular, the golf media's take on the accident:

This is also unfamiliar territory for the media that covers him. Even though many columnists are prodding Tiger to tell the truth, they’re doing it for selfish reasons — they want to stop writing about it, too. It makes their jobs a lot tougher if one of the greatest athletes of any generation with a pristine reputation turns out to be a(n) (allegedly) womanizing jerk who is (literally) above the law. The media is so enamored by Tiger that even if he were to spit in an old lady’s face or slap a child taking a picture of him in the middle of his backswing, many writers would still probably find a way to compliment him on his competitive drive.

Tiger Not Coming To The Chevron World Challenge***

As I Tweeted about half an hour ago, Golf Channel is now confirming that we won't see Tiger Woods at this week's Chevron World Challenge. Their sources are saying that doctors are advising against travel due to post-accident headaches he's suffering.

Here's the current field:

Tiger Woods**
Steve Stricker
Kenny Perry
Jim Furyk
Sean O'Hair
Lucas Glover
Stewart Cink
Zach Johnson
Anthony Kim
Mike Weir
Vijay Singh*
Camilo Villegas
Y.E. Yang
Paul Casey
Padraig Harrington
Lee Westwood
Martin Kaymer
Ian Poulter
*Justin Leonard (replaces injured Singh)
**Graeme McDowell (replaces injured Woods)

Update on 2009-11-30 21:53 by Geoff

*From the folks who run Tiger's event:

Thank you for your interest in the Chevron World Challenge. The press conference with Tiger Woods previously scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 1:45 p.m. has been cancelled. We will provide you with any other press conference updates regarding the Chevron World Challenge field as they become available.

Sam Weinman at GolfDigest.com says that we still might hear from Tiger this week via teleconference.

Update on 2009-11-30 20:03 by Geoff

**Took slightly longer than the hour I predicted, but here's Tiger's official announcement and apology:

"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."

"We support Tiger's decision and are confident the strong field and excellent course will provide an exciting week of competition at the Chevron World Challenge, said Greg McLaughlin, Tiger Woods Foundation President & CEO Woods will not participate in any other tournaments in 2009 and will return to action next year.

Update on 2009-11-30 20:59 by Geoff

The tournament offers a refund for those who want one and also a 20% discount on 2010 tickets.

Tiger: "This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me."

Strongly worded statement. Doesn't address whether he'll play at Sherwood next week or why he is passing again on the Florida Highway Patrol interviews.

As you all know, I had a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries. I have some cuts, bruising and right now I'm pretty sore.

This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again.

This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.

The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false.

This incident has been stressful and very difficult for Elin, our family and me. I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received. But, I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be.

This AP story suggests that Tiger has hired criminal defense attorney Mark NeJame and that no other meeting has been scheduled. Here's Nejame's bio.

Listen To The Tiger Woods 9-1-1 Tape

Very confusing as you can imagine when there's a shocking accident and at that hour. As always the operators are impressively calm and professional. Is there a part about midway through where we hear Tiger's mom, Kultida saying "What happened?" (I hope not for her sake, because no mother should have to go through that kind of scare.)

Here it is for download.

TMZ.com offers it here.

golf.com posts it here.

"I'm asked why people don't often see me and Elin in gossip magazines or tabloids. I think we've avoided a lot of media attention because we're kind of boring..."

File this one under Facebook-postings-we'd-like-to-take back.

A reader noted the above entry on Tiger's Facebook page, which was in response to a reader email question posted back on October 14th. The entry was also featured on his website.

Police To Release Woods Accident 911 Tape Sunday

According to the latest wire report, it sounds as if the Florida Highway Patrol wants to wash their hands of this ASAP:

Authorities say they won't speculate on what happened before Tiger Woods crashed his luxury SUV, and they expect to release 911 tapes from the accident Sunday.

Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said Saturday that investigators are only looking into the incident as a traffic crash. She says investigators are "trying not to get on the rumor mill."

Here's an ESPN/Tom Rinaldi report from this morning that includes clips from the Windermere Police Chief talking about what his officers saw: