Strange New Ad From Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Seriously Injured In Car Crash

Golf legend Tiger Woods was seriously injured early this morning in a single-car accident near Orlando.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the PGA star hit a fire hydrant and tree as he pulled out of his driveway in his 2009 Cadillac sport utility vehicle. Woods was taken to Health Central Hospital. Officials there did not have record of him as a patient, though the news release said Woods' injuries were serious. The highway patrol said the crash is still under investigation, and charges are pending. However, the highway patrol said the crash was not alcohol-related. Woods, 33, owns a home in the exclusive subdivision of Isleworth near Orlando.

According to CNN, Woods suffered facial lacerations and head injuries.

UPDATE: It's now being said that Woods was released from the hospital after treatment for minor injuries. Something is fishy here. A single-car crash at 3am, charges pending, no airbag deployment. Hmm.

UPDATE II: Yup, something was fishy.

Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol -- that should happen this afternoon. But we're told Tiger had a conversation Friday -- with a non-law enforcement type -- detailing what went down before his Escalade hit a fire hydrant. We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club. We're told Woods became "distracted," thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree.

No Golf For Obama

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that President Obama definitely will not attend the Presidents Cup golf tournament this Sunday. I was thinking it would be hard for him to make it after speaking at the HRC's dinner in DC the night before. What are the chances of a surprise appearance at the March? The president will be in SF next week for a Democratic fundraiser on the 15th.

Controversy Over Trans Golf Champion

The ladies golf world is reportedly "aghast" at the revelation that the new world champion of a long drive contest is a transgender woman.

TV golf-watchers in the US sat aghast over Christmas when it was revealed that the winner of the RE/MAX world long driving championship for women - shown on the ESPN network - was a former male policeman who used to play off a plus one handicap. The new women's world champion is 55-year-old bartender Lana Lawless from Palm Springs, California whose longest drive into a 40 mph headwind at the Mesquite event travelled 254 yards to beat reigning champion Phillis Meti (21) from New Zealand by four yards.

The rules governing transgender golf competition allow for those like Ms Lawless, who have received a 'sex-change' operation to take part in such events as long as they provide mandatory doctor reports, lab results within normal female limits and onsite testing. “I am a woman,” insists Lawless, who adopted her new name from movie star Lana Turner but refuses to discuss her previous name. “This is who I am. This is my life. That other person, that 245-pound SWAT cop I used to be, he's gone. He's not coming back.”

She told Golfweek: “I've lost muscle mass. I don't have big guns (biceps). They give you a drug that stops you from producing testosterone and in about seven months, I went from 245 pounds to 175 pounds. Sure, I used to be a man. For 18 years, I was a cop for the city of Rialto, one of the most violent cities in Southern California. I worked the gang unit. I had a very tough and mean exterior. People didn't want to mess with me. I had a hard exterior, but I was compassionate inside. I always let the gay guys go; they had enough drama in their lives.”

In 2005 the USGA approved the inclusion of transgender competitors, but some are still complaining that a transgender woman has an unfair genetic advantage, even though transgender athletes must test within normal female hormonal limits in order to compete.

(Via - Pam's House Blend)

LPGA: Learn English Or No Golf For You!

The Ladies Professional Golf Association has given their players two years to learn English or they will not be allowed to play.

Concerned about its appeal to sponsors, the women’s professional golf tour, which in recent years has been dominated by foreign-born players, has warned its members that they must become conversant in English by 2009 or face suspension.

“We live in a sports-entertainment environment,” said Libba Galloway, the deputy commissioner of the tour, the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “For an athlete to be successful today in the sports entertainment world we live in, they need to be great performers on and off the course, and being able to communicate effectively with sponsors and fans is a big part of this.

“Being a U.S.-based tour, and with the majority of our fan base, pro-am contestants, sponsors and participants being English speaking, we think it is important for our players to effectively communicate in English.” The L.P.G.A. and the other professional golf tours, unlike professional team sports, are dependent on their relationships with corporate sponsors for their financial survival.

The LPGA is frustrated because an increasing number of tour stars are Koreans who cannot conduct post-play interviews or shill for advertisers. No other major sports league has such a rule, but in fairness, the all-male leagues do not suffer from lack of sponsorship. The LPGA's new rule is likely to run afoul of "nation of origin" discrimination laws in some states where their tournaments take place.