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Locally, capitalareagolf spoke with three public relations professionals – Mark Bardack, Megan Baker and Mark Grimm – who watched Woods’ statement.

Mark Bardack with Ed Lewi Associates in Clifton Park:
“It was a start for him. I think he did sound, to a degree, contrite,” Bardack said. “I think he said the right words…at the end of the day, I don’t like that he didn’t take any questions.

“He would have taken a lot of air out of the bubble if he took a few questions,” said Bardack, who is a former reporter and producer at WRGB-TV, Channel 6.

He liked the fact that Woods didn’t use this statement, covered live by television networks, to announce his return to golf. But, Bardack said Woods knows who he is and he owes more than just a stated apology to his fans and those that cover him on a weekly basis.

“I can even live with a set number of questions,” Bardack said. “I can live with him to take five to seven questions.

“Journalists are not supposed to be scribes. They are supposed to ask and search and search for the truth and not letting them do that is wrong.”

When you let people ask questions, Bardack explains, you are showing humility. Bardack said Woods made a big mistake and feels he got poor advice right after the accident and another on Friday by not “feeding the beast,” that is, not addressing the issue of the accident or his indiscretions.

“He needs to make some friends among the media and he did not do that,” Bardack said.
“He may look at the media as a beast but he’s not doing a good job at making friends with that beast.”

“The biggest point, journalists have a job to do and the way they do that is they want to ask probing questions.”

Bardack pointed to other famous athletes that were caught up in one scandal or another, like Pete Rose, who bet on baseball and banned from the game, plus steroid-users Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi. They all faced questions in one form or another, eventually.

“They all sat there and faced the music,” said Bardack. “Long term, he’s not helping himself.”

Megan Baker of Baker Public Relations in Albany:
“I thought he was sincere. I thought the timing could have been better,” Baker said. “Obviously, the goal is to make the story go away. Had he done this when it first came out, the focus would not have been on today.”

Baker, a former TV reporter and anchor at WXXA-TV, Fox-23 and Capital News 9, said that if Woods was her client, she would have said to be forthcoming sooner than he did.
“You want to put out the fire as soon as possible,” Baker said.

“He did get angry [with the media] and that’s the one thing that needs to be addressed,” she said. “Today was not the day to come down hard on the media.”

She didn’t think he should have left the podium at the end of his statement and gone over and hugged his mother, sitting in the front row.

“He should have just walked off the stage,” Baker said. “I didn’t need to see him hug his mother.”

Baker liked the fact that his wife, Elin, was not there.

“I’m tired of seeing ‘the woman’s got to stand by her man,’” Baker said.

She still considers him a tremendous athlete but thinks that his current treatment for sexual addiction “is an excuse.”

As for taking questions, she thinks his statement and rules about no questions was a mistake, too. “We’ll see what he has to do to restore credibility and squeaky clean image,” Baker said. “Stay tuned.”

Overall, Baker said, “it was too much jammed into one session,” regarding the apology, the explanation and anger with the media for following him and his family.

Mark Grimm of Mark Grimm Communications in Guilderland:
“I think Tiger was genuinely contrite,” said Grimm, who spent 12 years as a TV news anchor/reporter and producer in six markets.

“He apologized to just about everybody,” Grimm said. “It must have been humiliating to someone on top of the world. I really think he knows he screwed up.”

Grimm said Woods did two things, appeared genuinely remorseful and answered the “why” question.

“That’s farther than some of the politicians go,” Grimm said.

While Tiger was able to control the message, Grimm said he doesn’t have to take questions but sooner or later, he will.

“There’s going to be another day when he has to answer every question in the book,” Grimm said. “The media has every right to ask the questions.”

He also says he should not have taken a strong tone against the media. “In the whole course of humble pie, you don’t attack the media,” Grimm said.

Further analysis from Grimm’s website:

He did address the “what were you thinking?” issue. He explained he thought he could get away with it because he was Tiger Woods and the “rules didn’t apply” to him. He said he “felt entitled” to that lifestyle. This, it seems to me, is a plausible explanation given the adulation thrown at him.

Tiger also said the true test (as his wife suggested) will be how he behaves, not what he says.

I think his criticism of the media may have best left for another time. It took him off message — his contrition — and it is a heavy lift for someone who has made so many millions in endorsements to complain about media coverage.

In the end, the success of this statement will hinge on his future behavior. That will be the true test of his sincerity.

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