7 Apr 2010

Woods pleads with media to stop asking questions

6:43 pm on 7 April 2010

Tiger Woods had pleaded with the media to stop bombarding fellow golfers with questions about his scandalous philandering on his return from exile and allow them to prepare for this week's Masters in peace.

The aftershocks of the disgraced golfer's return to competition continue at the Augusta National course in the wake of his media conference ahead of the tournament which tees off on Friday.

From defending champion Angel Cabrera to six-time Masters winner Jack Nicklaus, a parade of players and golfing greats have all been asked for comment.

Even Raymond Floyd, who used the occasion to announce his retirement, could not exit without first answering questions about Woods.

Two golfers who can expect to answer more questions about Woods's play than their own are American Matt Kuchar and South Korean KJ Choi who have been grouped with the 14-times major winner for the first two rounds.

Cynics described Woods's interview as a performance worthy of an Oscar while others took him at his word, believing him to be sincere about repairing his marriage and tarnished image.

The results of one national media study among 1,200 Americans revealed that nearly a third of press conference viewers were left with a more positive perception and that 63 percent felt the apologies he had given were sufficient.