WASHINGTON - The squeaky-clean image of one of America's best-loved athletes has taken a hit following Tiger Woods' mysterious middle-of-the-night car crash, lurid allegations about an extra-marital affair and reports his wife angrily wielded a golf club as her husband fled their home.
No one's saying officially what prompted Woods to speed off in his Cadillac Escalade from his Florida home in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, only to smash into a fire hydrant and a tree.
A statement on Woods' official website Sunday didn't provide much by way of detail.
"This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me," Woods wrote.
"I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again. This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumours that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."
What's known, according to the official police report, is this: When investigators arrived at the scene in the gated community of Windermere, Fla., after a neighbour called 911, a semi-conscious Woods was lying on the ground bleeding from facial lacerations as his Swedish-born wife, Elin Nordegren, tended to him.
On Sunday, Woods cancelled another meeting with state troopers, the third straight time he's done so.
Nordegren told police she smashed the back passenger seat windows of the SUV to pull her husband out of the vehicle after the crash, which seems a Herculean task given the size of the Escalade and her slight stature.
But unnamed sources told the website TMZ.com that the accident took place after a "domestic issue" in the home. They said Nordegren had scratched Woods' face and had been swinging the golf club in a rage over published allegations that Woods is involved in an extra-marital affair.
Wood disputed that version of events Sunday.
"The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false."
The National Enquirer reported last week that Woods is involved with a New York City nightclub hostess. Rachel Uchitel is best known as the sobbing young woman in an iconic photograph taken on Sept. 11, 2001, as she held up a photo of her missing fiance, who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
The tabloid has quoted a friend of Uchitel's as saying she and the golfer are "in love," and Uchitel has acknowledged staying in the same hotel as Woods recently in Melbourne, Australia, where the golfer competed in the Australian Masters. But she denies they are involved, says she was in Australia for business and has vowed to sue the Enquirer for defamation.
There's no question that the saga will become a sensation in the days to come. Uchitel has hired Gloria Allred, a high-profile lawyer who rarely shies away from the media spotlight.
It seems unimaginable that Woods - with his clean-cut image and reputation as one of the most disciplined athletes in professional sport - could inherit golf's bad boy mantle from the troubled John Daly.
Daly has battled alcoholism, has been married four times and struggles with a gambling problem. He recently had gastric bypass surgery and says he's lost 90 pounds. Woods, on the other hand, has a sterling reputation, is one of golf's fittest players and has established numerous youth charities.
But there's no question the Woods story contains all the sordid elements that will keep Americans as transfixed as they always are when a celebrity appears at the brink of a spectacular fall from grace. The story has received worldwide attention, and reporters have been stationed outside Woods' posh gated community, near Orlando, for days.
TMZ, which has been ahead of the pack on the story, says Woods even alluded to another athlete's front-page troubles when he told a friend Nordegren had "gone ghetto" in the aftermath of the National Enquirer story.
TMZ reported Woods told a friend: "I have to run to Zales to get a 'Kobe Special."' When the friend asked what he meant, the world's No. 1 golfer replied: "A house on a finger."
Woods was purportedly referring to Kobe Bryant, the basketball star who bought his wife, Vanessa, a $4 million diamond ring upon when he was acquitted of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee in Colorado in 2003.
Bryant insisted their tryst was consensual. But the scandal tarnished his image as his endorsement contracts with McDonald's and Nutella were terminated.
Woods has not won a major this season, and was asked about the state of his marriage earlier this year.
"Everything's been good. It's the same as always. Nothing's changed. It's still the same relationship," he said.
Woods is a 14-time major champion and, according to Forbes magazine, the first athlete to break through the billion-dollar earnings mark. He and Nordegren have been married for five years and have two young children, daughter Sam and son Charlie.
He's scheduled to play his last tournament of the year next week, when he hosts the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Ca. The annual event benefits his charitable foundation.
