GOLF superstar Tiger Woods has admitted “transgressions” and said he had let his family down in a statement posted on his website today that appeared to confirm rumours of an extramarital affair.
“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart,” Woods said, appealing for privacy after tabloid reports fuelled media frenzy over his alleged links to women other than his wife Elin.
“I have not been true to my values and the behaviour my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behaviour and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”
The statement broke Woods’s silence maintained since Friday when he had a mysterious car crash outside his Florida home. His refusal to talk even to police about the circumstances of the crash fuelled media speculation that he was escaping from Elin after she became enraged at reports he was secretly seeing a New York nightclub hostess, Rachel Uchitel.
Uchitel told newspapers on Tuesday she was not even friends with Woods and never had a sexual affair with him.
But today, the celebrity gossip magazine Us Weekly posted an audio recording online of what it said was Woods begging a different woman to change her telephone voicemail in order to hide their affair from his wife.
Us Weekly said that Los Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, 24, had an extramarital affair with Woods lasting 31 months, in which they met 20 times for sex and exchanged steamy text messages. The magazine published what it claimed to be a recording of the embattled golf superstar urging Grubbs to change her voicemail greeting because his wife was close to uncovering their affair.
In the recording – which could not be verified – a man is heard saying: “Hey, it’s, uh, it’s Tiger. I need you to do a huge favour. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.”
At the end of the brief message, the nervous-sounding man says: “Do this for me … quickly.”
The public apology for his “sins” appeared to be an attempt by Woods, one of the all-time great golfers, to end a publicity nightmare that has already damaged his ultra-lucrative, squeaky-clean image.
It comes as a third woman is now reportedly claiming she “hooked up” with Woods. American publication Life & Style is claiming a woman called Kalika Moquin, a marketing manager for The Bank nightclub in Las Vegas, had an affair with Woods.
A source told the magazine: “They’ve hooked up a bunch of times. Tiger told Kalika that married life isn’t all it’s built up to be. He said he wasn’t happy in his marriage or his home life and that there was just so much pressure on him.”
Below is a transcript of the statement released today by Woods on his website. It ran with the headline “Tiger comments on current events”.
I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.
Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means.
For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives.
The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious.
Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.
But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy.
I realize there are some who don’t share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one’s own family.
Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions. Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone.
I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it’s difficult. I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves.
For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.
