Tiger Woods ‘Sighted’ Jogging In Likely Staged Photo Op

by Steve Krakauer | 8:25 am, February 18th, 2010

» 3 comments

A few hours after it was announced Tiger Woods would make his first public statement Friday at 11amET since his Thanksgiving night…incident, he was spotted jogging in a widely circulated Getty Images picture.

But on closer inspection, the image, and the public statement, is vintage Tiger – and that’s not a good thing.

The image (larger below), shows Woods jogging with his trainer, looking fit, wearing Nike. But as TMZ reports, the fact that it was taken by Sam Greenwood of Getty Images is telling.

It feels like this was a photo op … taken by Getty Images. It’s not a paparazzi agency. If it were, it could have been worth millions. The photo was taken by Sam Greenwood, a Getty sports photog who’s pretty famous.

It’s all about controlling the message and a sense he’s above everyone. It’s what got him in trouble in the first place – and as mistresses started coming out of the woodwork by the dozen, Woods retreated. But if he’s planning on re-entering the public spotlight while trying to, once again, control the message, he’s going to find it far more difficult. “This has been all along played like nobody has played anything,” said CNBC correspondent Darren Rovell today on Morning Joe. “What’s weird about this is you would think at some point he is going to have to address what the media wants to address.”

Rovell is hearing that there may not even be video coming out of this supposed press conference tomorrow. And the Star-Ledger reports the whole sit-down is expected to last 5-7 minutes. Think this is shaping up to be a tremendous let-down? Here’s part of ESPN’s statement on their coverage:

ESPN’s SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, First Take (ESPN2), ESPN.com (streaming live), ESPN Radio (during The Herd with Colin Cowherd) and ESPN Mobile (streaming live) will present live coverage of Tiger Woods statement Friday, 11 a.m. ET at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home of the PGA Tour.

A lot of coverage – of what? Millions of interested viewers could be left wondering what next. And Tiger Woods may need to take a mulligan. (Golf puns – finally back!)

Here’s a bigger version of the image. Let’s play “I Spy”:

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Darren Rovell, Star-Ledger, Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods jogging, Tiger Woods presser, Tiger Woods speaks, TMZ

Puter Boi

The joke is on the self-important puffed up writers who try to tell everyone else how to live their lives. Tiger owes you nothing, but a great day on the links. That’s it. If you don’t like him don’t watch. Don’t buy the products he endorses. Nobody is strong arming you. Just turn away if the star is too bright. Who cares if the photo was a set up? He got the photo published he wanted out there and denied the piranha’s in the tabloid media their million dollar pay day. Good for Tiger.

Until the day that writers, as a public people allow cameras and the tabloids into your lives, you have no say. When people start peering into your windows for that million dollar shot….then come talk to me. Just look at CNN’s Jeff Toobin. Giving legal advice…judging others. Then it all explodes in his face. How many reporters could endure day after day….week after week…year after year of “journalists” spying on you?

Today’s sports “journalists” remind me of when I was a kid and I would see my grandmother in the backyard hanging clothes….gossiping about the goings on in the neighborhood. That’s what you have become. Old lady gossips. It would be funny if it were not so sad.
Puter Boi

My sincere apologies to old lady gossips….
QueenBee

Upon seeing the picture, I thought “photoshop” not “photo-op.” Does anyone else think the shadows in the background don’t match the shadows made by the people? Or am I just reading tooo much into this??