Tiger To Bubba: "We'll talk."

Tiger's post-practice scrum included this:

Q. I know you and Bubba are friends. I was curious about your reaction to what he said last week about you going in the wrong direction.

TIGER WOODS: That was interesting.

Q. He said this morning that you guys haven't had a chance to talk.
TIGER WOODS: Not yet.

Q. Do you have an issue with it?
TIGER WOODS: We'll talk.

Q. Have you ever told him he needed a teacher?
TIGER WOODS: To each his own.

Wei explains the backstory to this earthshattering feud.

Jeff Rude sums up Tiger's Tuesday presser in which he suggests he's here for the reps pre-Congressional and not much else.

Asked about his game and lack of preparation, Woods said, “It is what it is. The whole idea is that I peak four times a year. I’m trying to get ready for Congressional (U.S. Open next month), and I need some playing time.”

Gene Wojciechowski says to not expect a great performance from Tiger this week.

So in review, Tiger's knee and Achilles are better, but not 100 percent. He has barely picked up a club in the past 4½ weeks. He's taking anti-inflammatories. And, by his own admission, his putting is in the dumper and his short game isn't much better.

Plus, Woods and The Players Championship aren't always on speaking terms. He hasn't won at TPC Sawgrass since 2001 and has only one top-10 finish since 2002. Last year, he had to withdraw in the final round because of a neck injury.

Yet the Vegas smart guys have Woods as the betting favorite this week. They're begging you to wager on him.

Tiger Commits! Tiger Commits!

From the PGA Tour: Tiger Woods has committed to THE PLAYERS, May 9-15, 2011, at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Tiger's Triumphant Return To Vegas

Gossip columnist Norm Clarke on Tiger's weekend in Las Vegas:

Tiger Woods was back on the gaming tables during his Las Vegas visit, hoping to change his luck.

Spies said he was in the red for as much as $250,000 at Mandalay Bay, where he hosted his Tiger Jam charity on Saturday.

Tiger Tweeted otherwise:

John Daly Sheds Light On Tiger's Marriage...Really

Even better the four-time husband offers some brilliant PR advice on The Zone, 790 in Georgia reports the Guyism blog.

Mayhem: Once you put that ring on your finger, you don’t get that opportunity anymore…

John: Well, you should if your wife is good to you and makes loves to you when you want to be made love to….my exes, they didn’t want to have sex anymore. And when that happens, if you’re not going to give it to me, I’m going to get it from somewhere else. Is that adultery? Maybe so. But from what I understand, when you’re married, they’re supposed to give it to you.

Mayhem: Can Tiger Woods go up to a podium or a microphone, and say, here’s the deal, I’m not getting it anymore and quite honestly I’ve had enough?

John: Exactly, that’s what I did

And look how well that's worked out for you!

Mayhem: Could he have gotten away with that with his public persona?

John: I think so

You can listen to the wisdom here.

Early reviews are in and Long John has outdone himself!

Gary D'Amato writes:

John Daly has inserted his foot in his mouth on plenty of occasions throughout his PGA Tour career, but the two-time major champion outdid himself in an interview on 790 The Zone in Atlanta.

Steve Elling writes:

Let's see, this classy little NC-17-rated radio conversation ought to add to Daly's tour-topping fine total, huh?

Next Tiger Question: Will The Protective Boot Prevent Him From Dancing At Tiger Jam '11

Not a lot of dancing to do when it's Keith Urban and John Mayer, but let's hope that protective boot doesn't get in the way should Tiger decided to break out his best Al Czervik moves during Your Body Is A Wonderland.

"The MC asks Woods a series of meaningless and soft questions before pulling out a piece of paper that contains 'questions submitted by the media'. This is not a good sign."

Ron Sirak writes about Tiger's promotional swing to Asia and what it means about his relationship with sponsors.

Tim Noonan of the South China Morning Post was one of the media invitees and tells (reg. required) quite a harrowing tale of how the "press conference" was structured.

When I finally arrive I'm encouraged to see there are numerous media all ready to work. Personally, I didn't spend the week clearing out mantle space for the Pulitzer, but I do need to know if he thinks he can still win a tournament with his B game, despite the plethora of young hungry talent out there. The MC asks Woods a series of meaningless and soft questions before pulling out a piece of paper that contains "questions submitted by the media". This is not a good sign.

"Nike is one of the fastest growing golf companies in the world. Why do you think that is and can you tell us more about your relationship with Nike?" I get that sick-to-my-stomach feeling as this proves to be the hardest question of the lot and I'm told there will be no questions from the floor. But again I know nothing about marketing so I think it's fair to ask, you brought all of us here today for this? Because this is about as much a press conference as the selection of Hong Kong's chief executive is an election. I ask a guy named Cheung from Guangzhou who works for QQ.com, a massive mainland website, if he or any of his colleagues submitted questions. "None of us were asked," he says. "That press conference was 45 minutes of nothing. It was embarrassing."

I am astounded and clearly need a marketing lesson. Was this all a ploy to get me to denigrate Tiger, arguably the most famous and infamous person in the world, and question whether he has any shame at all? Does he honestly think someone here in the Chinese media stayed up all night racking their brains trying to figure out what they would ask him and then show up to submit a question about his relationship with Nike? Well, clearly he does because Tiger answers the question with such earnestness and vigour that the only thing missing is for him to utter, "Gee, you guys ask some good questions."

And Noonan's main point: after a strong Masters golf course performance, getting to watch a Woods promotional presser in person provided a wake-up call.

All that positive mojo and you are going to force me to write that as far as he is concerned Woods behaves like he owes you and I absolutely nothing and as far as I am concerned that's perfect because absolutely nothing is exactly what you get? Honestly, I'm begging you marketing geniuses of the almighty swoosh - don't make me write this! Because so far the only lesson you and your man have taught me is that when it comes to Tiger Woods, class is non-existent.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure what's more fun in John Feinstein's latest jabs at Barry Bonds and Tiger (thanks reader JohnB for the link): the Tiger stuff or the jabs at Feinstein's sometimes-employer, Golf Channel.

His new thing is to say he can’t change his schedule and can’t play more golf because he needs time with his children. It’s a good line—one that’s tough to argue with. Of course it doesn’t explain why he was seen in The Bahamas gambling a few days before going to Augusta; then, after nine days in Augusta, jumped on a plane to go to China to sell Nike product a few minutes after his last blow-off line to Macatee.

Look, you want to go to the Bahamas and have fun—go for it. You want to be a Nike salesman and go halfway around the world—heck, maybe it’s in your contract. But DON’T do those things and then try to tell us how much you miss your kids. In fact, during an infomercial last Thursday on Golf Channel (which posed as an ‘interview,’) during which viewers had to sit and listen to the president of Nike golf pitch the new spring products right there on-camera with Tiger, co-host Erik Kuselias, trying to make the interview at least semi-legitimate, asked Woods about being away from his kids so much.

“That’s why Skype is so great,” Tiger said with a straight face. “It’s almost like being there.”

I am not a crook.

I didn’t know what I was putting in my body.

Skype is just like being there.

Kostis On Tiger: "It is his prerogative to answer questions any way he wants to."

John Huggan talks to Peter Kostis for the Sunday Scotsman golf column and I'm dividing this in to two posts because both are hot topics that will require their own analysis.

Here, Kostis is talking about his 2010 interview of Tiger following the final round of the Masters.

"Anyway, with Tiger last year I tried to ask open-ended questions that would give him an opportunity to go wherever he wanted with his answers. He chose, in my opinion, incorrectly. It would have been appropriate to say the fans were great, that Augusta National is wonderful and that the Masters is his favourite tournament. Whatever. But that scenario wasn't meant to be. He was just angry because he hadn't won.

"I tried to help by saying that he had made mention of trying to control his emotions and behaviour on the course but, until he holed out for eagle on the seventh hole, I had seen nothing from him emotionally. At that, he bit my head off. His feeling was that he was hitting it so badly he wasn't going to show much emotion. Which is fine. It is his prerogative to answer questions any way he wants to."

That's right. And as in this year's lame interview with Bill Macatee, the questioner gave a man who had expressed in several public apologies/pleas for forgiveness a desire to "change." These interviews provided the opportunity to show his new and improved self and he ably demonstrated both times that in fact he had changed. For the worse.

And as Kostis says, that's Tiger's prerogative. It's just not a recipe to winning back fans or lucrative endorsement deals.

Stevie: “In an ideal world, we’d have had one more tournament under our belts before the Masters."

Robert Lusetich talks to Steve Williams about Tiger's game heading into the Masters.

Williams thinks Woods will contend for a fifth green jacket, though he concedes he could be a little underdone.

“In an ideal world, we’d have had one more tournament under our belts before the Masters,” he said. “But that’s in an ideal world. If you ask me is he ready, I’d say that I like what I’m seeing.”

If only we lived in an ideal world where Tiger could have played just one more week!