A European bookmaker is urging golf fans to invest in their version of cliché bingo during Friday’s Tiger Woods televised statement that will end three months of silence from the world’s top-ranked golfer about his November car accident that led to admissions of marital infidelity.
Paddy Power, the largest bookmaker in Ireland, announced a series of odds today for wagers on key phrases Woods is likely to utter during Friday’s statement he will read from PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (10 a.m., ESPN and The Golf Channel).
The early favorite: “I regret the hurt I’ve caused,” which opened with 7-2 odds. The longest odds, at 500-1, are that Woods will channel his inner Bill Clinton and echo the former President’s famous phrase from the Monica Lewinksi scandal: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
Woods, a husband and father of two, has been linked romantically to more than a dozen women other than his wife since Nov. 27, when the initial reports surfaced about Woods’ car wreck outside his Florida home. Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer, has taken an indefinite leave of absence from PGA Tour competition in order to attend to his personal life.
Woods reportedly underwent treatment for sexual addiction at a facility in Mississippi last month. Today’s appearance on ESPN, during which Woods will not answer questions, will mark the golfer’s first time to address the off-course issues in his life in a manner other than by issuing statements posted on his Web site.
Under terms dictated by Woods’ handlers, reporters from only three wire services _ The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg _ will attend today’s media session. Woods’ media session falls during the week of competition at the PGA Tour’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, which concludes Sunday in Marana, Ariz.
Accenture was the first sponsor to drop Woods, 34, after initial reports of his sex scandal. In announcing today’s media session, agent Mark Steinberg said in an e-mail to the Associated Press that his client “wants to begin the process of making amends and that’s what he’s going to discuss.”
What will he say? Here’s a list of phrases the folks at Paddy Power anticipate hearing, with accompanying odds. The full list:
7/2 I regret the hurt I’ve caused
5/1 Thank my family
5/1 I'm sorry
6/1 Time to reflect
10/1 Return to golf
12/1 Appeal for privacy
12/1 Getting back on the course
12/1 Thank God
14/1 Thanks to my sponsors who have stuck by me
14/1 The Masters
16/1 Doing what I do best
16/1 Look to my family and God for forgiveness
20/1 Thank IMG for all their support
20/1 I am now just looking to the future
20/1 Time for change
25/1 We all need to move on
25/1 We've all made mistakes
33/1 I love Elin very much
66/1 Sex addiction
80/1 I just want to get back out on the course and concentrate on scoring birdies
80/1 Hate the sin, love the sinner
80/1 OK I admit it looks bad, but…
100/1 Jack Nicklaus
100/1 I've lost count how many
100/1 Get in the hole
100/1 I got a few too many birdies
100/1 Gentlemen do prefer blondes
100/1 They tried to make me go rehab
200/1 Thank God for John Terry
200/1 I'm not as bad as Ashley
200/1 I am retiring from professional golf
250/1 My tiger is back in it's cage
250/1 My tiger has been tamed
250/1 At least I didn't pay
500/1 I did not have sexual relations with that woman
How many times will Tiger say 'sorry'?
16/1 None
5/2 One
9/4 Two
7/2 Three
9/2 Four
5/1 Five
7/2 Six or more
Will Tiger cry during the press conference
5/2 Yes
1/4 No
Tiger to play a PGA Tour Event in 2010
1/12 Yes
6/1 No
Next Major Tiger Wins
5/2 2010 The Masters
9/2 2010 US Open
5/1 2010 Open Championship
9/1 2010 USPGA
12/1 2011 US Masters
18/1 2011 US Open
25/1 2011 Open Championship
50/1 2011 USPGA
2/1 None of the above
_ Jimmy Burch
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