Tiger's statement invites further speculation

The incident which took place at Tiger Wood’s home in the early hours of Friday morning could have happened to any married couple. Heated arguments followed by physical violence is so commonplace that most lower courts the world over hardly blink when these matters come before them.

As a specialised criminal attorney I’m speaking from experience here.

What is out of the ordinary in this case is the fact that a former model and golf superstar are involved.

As a result the world’s media has begun a feeding frenzy the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long while.

Why?

The fault lies primarily with Tiger Woods who has failed to come forward and clarify — to any material degree — what took place.

A recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

He issued the following statement :

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 rumours 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.”

That is by far the worst thing he could have done. Either you issue a statement getting rid of the issues of an affair, assault by your wife, the inconsistencies in the way the accident occurred and the speculation that your wife chased you from the home or you simply close it down and leave it all up in the air.

What you don’t do is hang between the two.

Here he has praised his wife but not cleared her while leaving a huge lacuna where the answers to all the above questions should have been.

It is not as if the media are being vague. They are asking whether an affair took place and as a result of that did Elin exact revenge with a golf club? By saying Elin’s too wonderful, quite marvellous but pass on the real issues you invite further speculation and those who consider your silence as proof that the allegations are true.

The only antidote to speculation is the truth and if that is considered a non-starter then no statement rather than a half-cocked one must be the order of the day.

Tiger Woods becomes a Cheetah – Wonkie CartOOn!