Saturday, February 20, 2010

Tiger Woods Speech : Tiger Woods’s Mum ‘So Proud’ Following Apology

Tiger Woods’ mother has spoken out in support of the shamed golfer following his apology to family and friends over a sex scandal.
Woods, 34, broke his near three-month silence over his adultery, which emerged after a mystery car crash outside his Florida home in November.He read a statement to an audience of friends, family and colleagues at the US PGA Tour headquarters. At the end of the staged delivery, Woods hugged his mother Kultida and a few other audience members.
Mrs Woods later revealed she had whispered to him: “I’m so proud of you. Never think you stand alone. Mum will always be there for you and I love you.” She told reporters she was “so proud” to be the golfer’s mother. “As a human being everyone has faults, makes mistakes and sins. We all do. But, we move on when we make a mistake and learn from it,” she said.
Mrs Woods accused the world’s media of treating him like a criminal, and said “he didn’t kill anybody, he didn’t do anything illegal”. Woods’ voice was charged with emotion as he made sweeping apologies to his wife Elin Nordegren, family, fans and business partners.
But not everyone was convinced by the golfer’s statement yesterday.
Woods has been accused of using his TV apology as a way of simply appeasing his sponsors. The public broadcast sparked controversy after he mentioned causing “considerable worry” to business partners. Despite this, others within the golfing world are standing by the star.
After the statement Sir Nick Faldo said Woods had made “a pretty expansive apology”, while Open champion Stewart Cink said: “I was moved by how difficult it seemed to be for him.”
Woods told the audience “every one of you has good reason to be critical of me”. He went on: “I want to say to each of you simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behaviour.”
The world’s number one golfer said he had discussed his infidelity with Ms Nordegren, but this would remain private. At the time of the car crash there was speculation the collision took place after a fight with his wife, but Woods denied she would ever hurt him. “Elin never hit me that night or any other night,” he said. “There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever.”
He praised his spouse for showing “enormous grace and poise” as stories emerged of her husband’s adultery, and said she deserved “praise, not blame”. Woods said he “ran straight through the boundaries” a married couple should observe and convinced himself that “normal rules didn’t apply”.
He went on: “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me.”
Woods added his Buddhist faith would help him to “be a better man”.

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