Tiger responds. But the questions remain

SO we finally have the word of Tiger Woods. Or, more likely, the carefully-crafted statement of somebody respresenting the world's No1 golfer after his early-morning car crash on Friday.

He asked for "understanding" and blasts the "malicious" rumours surrounding the golfer's wayward driving.

It's on his official website, so we have to believe it's what Tiger feels, rather than the imperious word of the great management company IMG.

As papers all over the world agree the crash came after a golf-club-wielding wife Elin raised the subject of Tiger's alleged liasions with a New York events planner called Rachel Uchitel, but this morning Tiger himself is purported to have said|: "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. The many false, unfounded and malicious rumours that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."

Tiger said the crash, which left him unconscious with facial wounds, was all his fault. He was discharged from hospital on Friday but news of the accident didn't emerge for 12 hours and Tiger has still not been seen in public.

And then we are confronted with Tiger and Elin turning away the Florida police THREE times when they arrived to question him at his Windermere home near Orlando over the weekend.

Sgt Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol said a "chat" about the accident has still not been scheduled with Tiger's lawyers.

Then there are the tapes of the 911 emergency call doing the rounds. A concerned neighbour tells police: "I need an ambulance immediately. I have someone down in front of my house. They hit a pole.".

Police say they were treating the incident as a traffic accident, not a domestic issue. According to the highway patrol, alcohol was not a factor in the incident. Chief Daniel Saylor of the Windermere Police Department said: "From what we understand, his wife came out of the house when she heard the accident, him hitting the fire hydrant, (and) used a golf club - that's what we were told - to break out the rear window to gain entrance into the vehicle, removed him from the vehicle and laid him down in the street.

"He was in and out of consciousness with lacerations to his upper and lower lip, with a little bit of blood in his mouth, but he was conscious enough to be able to speak a little bit. According to my officers, it was not life-threatening injuries."