Veteran BBC commentator Peter Alliss has described Tiger Woods as “an idiot” for having a string of affairs and subsequently ruining his marriage and reputation.
“He’s been caught shagging birds. He’s not been married all that long, and he’s an idiot. If he was sitting here now, I’d say, ‘Tiger, you are an idiot’,” The Times quoted Alliss, as saying.
The former golfer particularly found the public nature of Woods’s fall from grace distasteful.
“I think it’s tacky. The press have thrown a cloak of tawdriness over his lifestyle and his family and his mother,” he said.
While Alliss considers Woods’ decision to return to golf after a four-month self-imposed exile at Augusta National “wise”, he wonders how the green jackets are letting their championship be hijacked by a solitary player.
“I’m surprised, in a way, they are letting him play there. It either shows they have a desire to be helpful or a weakness. It would have been rather grand - but would have perpetuated the stupidity of it - if they had said, ‘Sorry, we don’t want your sort here,” he said
“But if he had to start somewhere, that’s the safest place because it is so controlled. Personally, I think it’s a little bit cowardly,” he added.
However, Alliss slammed other golfers for condemning Woods’ middle of February apology.
“Ernie Els was right when he used the word ‘selfish’. It was thoughtless and I didn’t like it. But we’ve all done stupid things. If you are a red-blooded male and you’re chatted up by a decent-looking bird, it’s very hard to not say yes,” he said.
“It was a lot easier in my day. I remember some very famous golfers who used to book into hotels as Mr and Mrs", he added.
