Tiger Woods plans to take questions from fans instead of the media

If there’s one thing Tiger Woods can’t stand, it’s talking to the media early in the week. Now, he won’t say it publicly, but you can tell from his pre-tournament answers that he’d rather be anywhere but in the media center.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Woods is flipping the script and passing on fielding questions from the media, prior to the start of the Well Fargo Championship, for the chance to do a prerecorded video interview where he answers softball questions from Twitter and Facebook followers.

Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg confirmed the 14-time major winner would be doing this a couple times during the season in an effort to beef up Team Tiger’s social media presence. If you believe those comments from Steinberg, then I’d like to offer you some prime oceanfront property in Arizona for a cool million.

Here’s the deal: I don’t have a problem with Woods trying to embrace social media and interact with his fans on a weekly basis, but do it when you’re not coming off a lengthy layoff. Woods hasn’t played since the Masters, so I’m pretty sure golf scribes would appreciate a quote or two before the start of the tournament.

This isn’t an either either-or scenario; Woods can answer questions from both groups. And that’s why this decision is so darn confusing. Woods deserves a lot of credit for sitting down pre-tournament and taking questions after each round; there’s no question he does more interviews than any golfer on tour.

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But when you’re the biggest name in the sport, it’s expected that you’re going to be in the spotlight every time you tee it up. Passing on talking to the media early in the week is weak. But adding a prerecorded video interview in its place? That pretty much tells me he doesn’t want to talk.

If Woods doesn’t want to talk to the media after his struggles at the Masters, that’s his prerogative. But don’t say the reason you’re passing on the media center is because you want to become social media savvy. It just makes you look silly … just like the answers Woods usually posts on his Twitter account.

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