Why I voted 'Yes'

By Dave Tindall Last updated: 6th April 2010

A new Golf365 polls shows that viewers were unimpressed by Tiger Woods' performance in the front of the cameras last Friday.

Woods fought back tears as he issued a full and frank apology for cheating on his wife and that prompted us to ask the question: "Was it a good first step in rebuilding his damaged reputation?

Although "Yes" (36%) outweighed the vote for "No, he made things worse" (22%), the most damning response came from the 42% who ticked the box "It changed nothing".

That suggests a large many of you thought that Tiger was wasting his time even though millions tuned in to see what the world's number one golfer would reveal.

I personally voted "Yes".

In my view Tiger said the right words and, beyond the obvious dramatic pauses, looked contrite and genuinely full of remorse.

The clincher for me was when he said very late in his 14-minute speech: "I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be."

Had he ended with "Anyway, I'll see you all on the first tee in Phoenix next week," then all he'd said before would have seemed trite and hollow.

But by continuing his indefinite leave of absence from the game he loves, it suggested he was indeed trying to get himself right and save his marriage.

It's why I don't expect to see him at Augusta.

As Tiger said: "My real apology to her (Elin) will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time."

That can be interpreted as not having any more affairs.

But I also take it to mean that family, not golf, comes first and to really prove it he will have to miss a major (Elin knows this will kill him) rather than a couple of Tour events.

Time will tell of course although there was one thing that everyone agreed on after Tiger's statement.

Doesn't his mum look much better now she's had her hair cut and got rid of those daft, big glasses.

Dave Tindall