Update 2/19/10 - 10:53 am - Golf writers announce a boycott of Tiger Woods' press conference

Tiger Woods is planning to have the press conference of the year tomorrow, during which he will talk about his past, present and future. He will be in the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He is not going to answer questions and the world will be watching. All three major networks are planning to tune in and for just 30 minutes, you may as well call him Tiger Obama, given that his speech is getting the same attention at the State of the Union Address.

Ernie Els, one of Tiger's arch rivals on the golf course (if Tiger has any rivals), is lining himself up to be one of the first men to attack Woods for his choices.

"It's selfish," Els told Golfweek. "You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

It's interesting that Ernie seems to feel that Tiger should feel sorry for the sponsor, given that the sponsor, Accenture, dropped Tiger Woods after learning of his affairs. Perhaps if they'd not dropped him, Tiger would feel sorry for them too.

"After careful consideration and analysis, the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising," Accenture said of Woods in a statement Dec. 13.

Perhaps a good statement for Tiger to make in response would be, "After careful consideration and analysis, we've determined that Accenture is no longer the right company for me to not step on and squash. By holding my press conference right in the middle of their tournament, I am stealing any headlines and brand building that the company could have done had they not tried to kick me when I was down. I will now proceed to avoid all events hosted by Accenture, thus depriving them of TV ratings, and I will do really strange things to attract media attention right in the middle of all of their future events. I was the wrong Caublanasian to mess with."

Tiger never issued my statement, but I am convinced that this was what he was thinking.

"It's strictly a timing issue,'' said Tiger's Agent, Mark Steinberg. "There is a very good reason (to do it Friday) ... and not do it next week.''

Let's break through the mud and talk about what's really going on:

1) Yes, I do believe that Tiger is sticking it to his sponsor. Tiger Woods is reminding Accenture that by throwing the first blow toward him, he can strike back. The PGA Tour doesn't exist in its most recent form without the presence of Tiger Woods, and if they want to try to pretend that Tiger isn't relevant, then they are going to lose that game.

2) It's about time Tiger said something. Woods has been silent for entirely too long, and the world has been allowed to eat away at his reputation without him being there to defend it. It's time for him to set the record straight. But the truth is that he is probably not going to say anything that adds very much insight into the situation. His goal is to get the world to focus on him as a golfer, so they can promptly begin to love him once again.

3) Tiger will come back. No matter what happened behind closed doors, Tiger Woods is not going to allow his enemies to defeat him. He will roar back and dominate the PGA Tour once again, and I would not be surprised if Accenture and all his other sponsors come right back to him. If they don't get on board, someone else will. The truth is that Tiger is golf, and there's no way around that. His enemies are fighting against destiny and are likely to end up as mere footnotes in the legacy of the greatest golfer whoever lived.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.