THE TRUTH ABOUT TIGER

We're going to learn a lot about the character of Tiger Woods over the next few months.

With sensational headlines surrounding his very personal life showing no signs of abating, the big question now is when and where will the world's most celebrated sports star show his face in public. When will he emerge from a self-imposed hibernation as his perfect world disintegrated around him in the blink of an eye?

Speculation has been rife as to his whereabouts over the past turbulent six weeks, ranging from a Caribbean cruise to lick the wounds aboard his wishfully named yacht Privacy, to an African hideaway, to a New York trist with his most recent mistress Rachel Uchitel, about whom the whole sorry saga unfolded when her trip to Melbourne was revealed.

Most of us would probably decide on a life of relative seclusion from here on, trying to make do on the remaining $US700 million of his estimated fortune, now that wife Elin has elected to take the money ($US$300 million) rather than play on.

But, as we have discovered both on and off the golf course, Tiger Woods is not like most of us. His strike rate on both counts is far better than mere mortals could possible hope to emulate.

According to a report by Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tiger will be back on the golf course sooner rather than later. D'Amato predicts it will be in late March, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club in Florida.

His reasoning goes like this. Woods lives for golf. It's the reason for his being. Already, he's won 14 majors and the Jack Nicklaus record of 18 victories has always been, and remains, a massive driving force. The next of the majors is the US Masters at Augusta scheduled for April 8-11, and Woods will have every intention of lining up in the field. And, as he will want a lead-in tournament pre-Masters, pencil in the Bay Hill event a fortnight earlier.

Such is the status of the Masters, the galleries will be respectful and respond to Woods and all players for their golf alone. And the media corps will also be kind to Tiger, with accreditation forwarded only to journalists who cover golf on a regular basis and not, the assertion goes, the muck-raking gossip writers.

So, in effect, although Woods would be re-entering the public arena at the US Masters, he would, as has always been the case, be surrounded by minders in a cocoon protective of the outside world.

But how will he respond? Tiger Woods is renowned for his poker-faced demeanour, giving little away. When the photo of Woods emerged earlier this week portraying a bare-chested street-fighter image, an accompanying non-flattering article suggested he'd offended onlookers with a string of lewd profanities during an interview. That interview was dated 1997 when he was 21, and the writer suggested it was probably the last time the real Tiger Woods presented himself to the public.

Since then and until recently, he's been the consumate professional. A corporate businessman who's business is golf. Always with the right words to say at the right time.

So has it all been a sham, with Woods hiding behind a mask of sincerity for the betterment of his career? Now that the facade has been lifted, how will he present himself to the golfing public?

Will he be so stoic as to tee up and drive down the middle of the first as if nothing has happened, and rebuild his golf and corporate profile? Or will he, perhaps, feel unburdened somewhat, and return as the real Tiger Woods. That is, a great golfer, but a man who no longer feels the need to traverse the fairways as an infallible role model. With a blond or two in tow.

Perhaps a lemonade with John Daly would do the trick.