Woods tees up Masters PR drive

TWO weeks to the Masters and Tiger Woods is gradually pre-paring the ground for Augusta.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, Irish time, he agreed to his first interviews since the whole rumpus blew up last December and you can see the hand of his management team IMG in the timing and in what he had to tell his inquisitors, Kelly Tilghman of Golf Channel and Tom Rinaldi of ESPN.

Now the speculation moves on as to how he will handle what promises to be a monumental test of his nerve and well-being, on and off the golf course. Will he agree to the customary pre-tournament press conference? If so, will the questions be vetted beforehand or censored in any way? Will instructions be issued to the ‘patrons’, as Masters spectators are called, as to how they should behave when Woods is on the golf course? Will those who step outside those guidelines be escorted from the premises?

By prior agreement, Sunday’s interviews were to be of five minutes duration each. Both stations insisted that they were free to ask any questions they wished and, in fairness, a few were hard-hitting.

Nevertheless, it was more than a little interesting that CBS, who televise the Masters, declined the offer of an interview with spokeswoman Leslie Anne Wade explaining: “Depending on the specifics, we are interested in an extended interview without any restrictions on CBS”.

Woods admitted he was looking ahead to the coming weeks with a considerable sense of foreboding. He looked contrite and serious and spoke clearly and without any sign of the uncertainty that afflicted his first public appearance last month. That could be a sign that he has his life back under control and that he is already manipulating the media as he has done for most of his adult life.

How the public react in the long run, however, is another matter.

“I’m a little nervous about that,” he admitted. “It would be nice to hear a couple of claps here and there.”

The Woods issue is growing bigger by the day and threatens to dominate everything in the game of golf, even the Masters. But there are other outstanding golfers in the world and three of them happen to be Irish.

Pádraig Harrington may have disappointed over the weekend having led the Transitions tournament in Florida after 36 holes but the important thing is that he is competitive and ready for action.

Third place in the Honda Classic has been followed by a share of eighth in the Transitions on Sunday ensuring that he retains his 10th place in the world rankings. Successive top ten finishes in the States indicate that things are coming together at the right time for the 38-year-old Dubliner even if he admitted to keen disappointment at shooting one over par rounds of 72 at Copperhead on Saturday and Sunday.

Rory McIlroy, who has gone to 12th in the world ranking, is making light of an aching back and he continues to have treatment for the ailment and also passes up this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He won’t return to competitive action until the Shell Houston Open at Humble, Texas.

So Graeme McDowell represents the only direct Irish interest at Bay Hill where he will be very keen to maintain the form that saw him earn a share of sixth in the WGC-CA World Championship. Even though he was the number one ranked collegiate golfer in the States during his time at the University of Alabama, he hasn’t always displayed his full potential on he professional circuit in America. Furthermore, a tie for 17th at the Masters 12 months ago suggests he may be capable of even greater things at Augusta. McDowell is currently ranked 42nd in the world.

The €1m Open de Andalucia at the Parador club in Malaga is this week’s attraction on the European Tour. Paul McGinley continues his golfing rehabilitation after missing the cut on his return from knee surgery in Morocco last week and the other Irish in the field are Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin and Gary Murphy.