‘Ego’ row as Tiger prepares to break his silence

Golfer Tiger Woods is to speak publicly tomorrow for the first time since he crashed his car into a tree outside his Florida home on November 27 and unleashed a torrent of publicity about his various mistresses and led him to undergo therapy for sex addiction.

But his plan to address colleagues and reporters at the Sawgrass clubhouse in Florida, home of the PGA Tour, has been criticised by some fellow professionals who say it will distract from the first big golf event of the year, the Accenture Match Play Championship just started in Arizona.

"It's selfish," said South African golfer Ernie Els, the former US Open and British Open champion. "I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

Accenture has reason to be annoyed by the timing too. The consultancy outfit was one of Tiger's biggest sponsors until it decided in mid-December to drop him because of public embarrassment over his "transgressions". The company has not commented on the suspicion that Tiger is getting his own back by insisting on making his address on Friday, the third day of the Accenture tournament, rather than waiting until after the weekend.

The precise nature of Woods's appearance at Sawgrass - two days after he allowed himself to be photographed jogging in Florida (above) - remains unclear. It will not be a press conference, says his agent Mark Steinberg. A small number of reporters will be allowed in to hear what he has to say to the gathering of "friends and associates", but they will not be allowed to ask questions.

Will it be an apology? And if so, to whom? His wife Elin Nordegeren has, by all accounts, heard as many apologies as it's possible to take, and has apparently put divorce proceedings on hold while she judges whether the sex addiction sessions have paid off.

Steinberg will only say that the get-together is intended to mark the beginning of "the process of making amends".

"While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between he and his wife, he also recognises that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him," the agent said.

"He also let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends and that's what he's going to discuss."

Whatever fellow golfers and sponsors may have to say, local businesses are delighted at the news of Tiger's appearance at Sawgrass which is bound to bring an influx of reporters and cameramen, even if Steinberg has made it clear that only one camera will be allowed into the clubhouse. "We expect more business this way," said Shawn Kim, owner of the local Japanese restaurant, Etto, "because Tiger all the time bring people." ·