Bill Clinton, Obama called Tiger last week to offer support?

Great story by Jamie Diaz in the April issue of Golf Digest that’s now on its web site, via SportsbyBrooks, with some heretofore unreported details on the Tiger Woods Saga. Stuff you probably didn’t know:

* Up until last week, Tiger went about 100 days — almost 14 weeks — without hitting a golf ball; a span that extends two weeks before his SUV crash on Thanksgiving night.

* On his 34th birthday on Dec. 30th, he accompanied his mother to Thailand where they visited a Buddhist monk, who gave him advice on his troubles.

* Wife Elin Nordegren spent Christmas with Tiger with their two children at their Orlando home.

But those aren’t the best details.

* Just prior to his televised press announcement this past Friday, Woods received phone calls from two rather noteworthy politicians: President Obama, and Bill Clinton. Clinton and Obama: A gathering of titans. I wonder if they’re forming some sort of cheating husband Justice League of America?
From Diaz’ Golf Digest piece:

Just before his 34th birthday on Dec. 30, [Woods' mother] accompanied Tiger on their annual visit with a Buddhist monk. Afterward, her son confided that he was struggling with all the upheaval. “I tell him, ‘Tiger, right now you are in a dark hole, and I know it’s hard, but you can do it,’ ” Tida says. ” ‘You know Mom is strong, and you have my blood. You are strong, too. You made a big mistake, but now you know the cost. So you are going to be much better and stronger, a good husband and a good father. Just go to work like you do.’ “

President Obama also made a personal call to offer encouragement. So did Bill Clinton, whose experience might be particularly instructive.

Yeah, perhaps.
Your picture of how that Clinton-Woods summit would have gone is probably much more entertaining than mine. But I’m particularly intrigued by the Obama call … was it like a congratulations call to Phil Jackson or Sean Payton? “Tiger, congratulations on topping the 11-mistress barrier. I’d like to invite you and Elin to the White House for a beer.”
I have trouble believing that the Obama call even took place, frankly. Woods’ presentation on Friday — like a fifth-grader giving book report when he clearly only saw the movie — was as zero-charisma as you can get. The anti-Obama.
The revelations in the Golf Digest piece are attributed to anonymous sources, but it’s easy to speculate that many of them came from Woods’ mom, who got to know Diaz when he accompanied her on a trip to Thailand last spring.
Ha. What a great thing it must be when your cell phone rings, and the readout shows “Bill Clinton.” Think Monica was ever asked to take her name off her phone?
***
Clinton, Obama Called Tiger; Mom The Source? [SportsbyBrooks]
The Year of Living Dangerously [Golf Digest]
Eye Of The Storm [Golf Digest]