What up, Tiger?

I'll admit that when I first heard that Tiger was involved in a serious auto accident, Payne Stewart's tragic end and Ben Hogan's ordeal were the first things that popped into my mind. Suffice to say, I'm very happy his incident was not that severe. In reality, only Mr. and Mrs. Woods know what really is going on, and I wish them well not only in keeping it that way, but also in resolving whatever is at the heart of the matter.

The first hint that Tiger was indeed human was at the PGA this year when Y.E. Yang outdueled him down the stretch, and now it appears that at some level he deals with the same kind of domestic issues that the rest of us humans do. That said, details of the incident certainly make us wonder just what in the hell was happening.

I was wondering how he hit a fire hydrant and tree while backing out of his driveway. Then it dawned on me that while I have to back out of my garage, Tiger no doubt can drive forward when leaving his compound. I'm pretty sure that the fire hydrant was not recently installed, and that he had successfully negotiated around it on numerous occasions.

Don't know what was different at 2:25 a.m. Friday, other than the possibility that he was being chased by a highly agitated 6 foot tall Norwegian supermodel with a golf club, and groggy from painkillers. As to the facial lacerations, he either wasn't wearing a seat belt, or said lacerations were incurred earlier from another source, i.e. agitated Norwegian.

Now, I have no reason to doubt published reports, but it seems highly odd that his wife smashed the back window of his Escalade with the club to free him, largely because that would involve crawling over two rows of seats and getting him out through the fully functioning driver side door. Alternately, it's not hard to imagine her tomahawking the club at the rear window as he scrambled away with his face bleeding, where upon hearing the back window shatter, Tiger augered in to the aforementioned fire hydrant, then tree.

Unconfirmed reports say that Elin's clubhead speed was in excess of 105mph, and Konica swing video and Peter Kostis revealed that she got stuck a bit inside and caused the club out to go to the right, leading to speculation that her target was indeed the driver's side window. No word on whether or not she hit a provisional.

Seriously, Tiger has fiercely and correctly protected his family's honor and privacy in the past, and is attempting to do so here as well. Can't blame him for that. However, when his private life spills into his neighbors property, the local hospital, and the Florida Highway Patrol, I don't think he can insulate himself from scrutiny.

If we can glean anything from the dozens of athletes and celebrities that have screwed up, it's that the cover up is always more damaging than whatever is underlying. Tiger needs to come clean, with at least enough of an explanation to not offend our intelligence, make things right with his family, and in a couple weeks a real idiot celebrity/athlete will do something so incredibly stupid that his double bogey will pale in comparison and fade away.

Fairways and Greens.