Woods' agent brushes off Tilghman comment

2008-01-09

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NEW YORK (TICKER) -- Tiger Woods' camp does not appear overly concerned about a questionable comment made by the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman last week.

During the channel's coverage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii on Friday, Tilghman joked with analyst Nick Faldo that players hoping to challenge Woods may have to "lynch him in a back alley."

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, issued a statement Tuesday indicating that the matter has been blown out of proportion.

"This story is a non-issue," he noted. "Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed."

New York Newsday, which first publicized the story, reported Monday that Tilghman quickly regretted her choice of words and apologized on Sunday's telecast as well as directly to Woods' representatives.

Tilghman issued an official statement Tuesday indicating she did not mean to offend the public or Woods, who is half African-American and half Asian.

"On Friday during our golf broadcast, Nick Faldo and I were discussing Tiger's dominance in the golf world and I used some poorly chosen words," she noted. "I have known Tiger for 12 years and I have apologized directly to him. I also apologize to our viewers who may have been offended by my comments."