14 DAY TRIAL // Tiger Woods is still reeling from the media scandal that almost cost him his career and from which he’s yet to recover fully, having just taken the first step towards his comeback. On the bright side, he’s got people he knows he can count on, like US President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, both of whom have called him to tell him he can count on their support, it has been claimed, as MediaIte can confirm.
The claim appears in the April 2010 issue of Golf Digest, where sports writer Jamie Diaz leaves no room to doubt as to the two political figures’ support for the disgraced golfer. Apparently, Woods got calls for support from the two shortly after he crashed his car on the lawn of his neighbor in November last year and after some of his 12 alleged mistresses had already started talking to the media about his many affairs while married to Elin Nordegren.
“President Obama also made a personal call to offer encouragement. So did Bill Clinton, whose experience might be particularly instructive,” the Golf Digest piece reads. It would seem that the information that Woods got these calls comes from his mother, who is then quoted as saying that he has all the hope in the world her son will be able to pull through this ordeal and come out stronger than ever. “He will face himself, solve the problem, and when he comes back, he will still love to play and love to win. I think more than ever, because his closet will be cleaned out and his mind will be free. And I know he will break Jack’s record,” Woods’ mother tells the magazine.
As MediaIte points out, this type of information – granted the report is accurate – should not be divulged to the public given that it puts those involved in a very delicate situation. While having Mr. Clinton call Woods would not seem that impossible to fathom, it’s assumed Mr. Obama has (or should have) better things to occupy his time with. Moreover, if this did happen, perhaps the golfer’s camp should have done a better job at instructing his mother as to what she should and shouldn’t tell the media, especially when Obama’s camp is denying the call ever took place.
“Is it true? The POTUS camp says no, according to ABC’s Jake Tapper, although the wording in the article is vague enough to imply that the President’s camp made the phone call, but did not speak to Tiger directly. Yeah, for some reason Bill Clinton calling Tiger Woods makes total sense to us. Barack Obama, with his full plate right now, should have more important things to worry about than picking up the spirits of the disgraced golfer,” MediaIte writes.