Tiger Woods- Do what you need to do

Perhaps the biggest news out of the Player's Championship yesterday was Tiger Woods announcing he may need to take some weeks off from golf to see to his ailing father. Tiger had spent Tuesday and Wednesday this week flying roundtrip Jacksonville FL-California.

Tiger Woods, who flew round-trip to California to be with his cancer-stricken father on Tuesday and Wednesday, said he might skip tournaments, including the Masters in two weeks.

"There's a chance I might not play for a while," Woods said Thursday after his first-round 72 at the TPC at Sawgrass. "I mean, who knows? It all depends on how my father is doing."

Asked if he might miss the Masters, where he is defending champion, Woods said, "You never know."

Woods said he left Ponte Vedra Beach on Tuesday afternoon, visited his father at Earl Woods' home in California and returned late Wednesday night.

"Dad wasn't feeling well, and it's just the same stuff. (I) just tried to go out there and hopefully make his spirits feel a little bit better.

"He's a very stubborn man, which is good. He's fighting as hard as he can. It was good to see. At least he's trying to hang in there, which is a very positive sign.

"He said, 'What the hell are you doing here?' It was nice to hear that."

Asked if he will return to California after this week, Woods replied, "Yeah."

Asked if he tried to pick up his father's spirits or vice versa, Woods said: "I'm always fine. I'm always good. (I was) just trying to make him understand that I love him dearly and just want him to hang in there and keep fighting, which he always does."

Woods played his first round here with Carlos Franco and Darren Clarke. Clarke's wife, Heather, is being treated for cancer that has spread throughout her body.

"Today probably the best thing was to have a pairing like Darren, because everyone knows Darren is kind of struggling with the same thing," Woods said. "We were talking about it all day.

"It puts things in perspective real quick. You hit a bad shot and you want to get upset with yourself because you know you can hit better shots, but you know what, in the whole scheme of things, it's just a golf shot.

"The situation for our entire family is not easy. But hey, it's just one of those things you have to deal with. Everyone has to deal with that at some point in time in their life, and unfortunately right now it's our time."

Woods said he decided not to withdraw from The Players Championship in part so his father can watch him on TV.

It would be a shame if Tiger had to miss the Masters, but family comes first. From all accounts, Earl Woods doesn't have much more time on earth. If I were Tiger I'd be spending as much time with his father as possible. I'm certain his mother needs him too right now. Missing out on a major seems trivial when compared to living with yourself if you're not there when their parents need you. That guilt you would carry for a lifetime.

Take whatever time you need Tiger. God bless you and your family.

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