Tiger Woods: ?Steve [Williams] is certainly not a racist?

We knew it was coming. Tiger Woods, in front of a microphone, with more questions about everything except his golf game. The thing is, none of these questions were Tiger's fault. Woods took to the podium early Tuesday at the Australian Open to chat about the comments made by Steve Williams last week in China.

Williams, of course, was at a pre-tournament event and was asked to talk about the infamous interview he gave months ago after his new boss, Adam Scott, won at Firestone. Steve said, "My aim was to shove it right up that black [expletive]," a comment that immediately took over the golf world.

Tiger was asked about what his former caddie said at the presser, and while he did admit that it hurt him, he was stern when saying of Williams, "Steve is certainly not a racist."

He went on to say, of Williams' choice of words, it was a "comment that shouldn't have been made, and certainly one that he wishes he didn't make," and, "It was hurtful, certainly, but life goes forward."

Woods said the two had talked and exchanged a handshake, and while it doesn't seem like they will be sending each other Christmas cards anytime soon, Tiger did seem in good spirits and ready for the latest in his always interesting media sessions to be over.

It's worth mentioning that through all the Williams talk, Tiger didn't seem to have any emotion one way or the other; nothing completely out of the ordinary for Woods during intense moments in press conferences, but worth pointing out. He answered the questions he was asked, avoided the ones you'd expect him to avoid, and went about his business with the others, laughing at most of the lighter questions and saying he's excited about this week and getting back to golf.

We all know that�this story will be buried until Scott and Tiger are paired together, and we will all remember what Williams said and be interested in the handshake that goes down between the once dominant team. But for now, it's Tiger back playing golf again, and that is an exciting prospect for golf fans.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/golf_experts/post/Tiger-Woods-Steve-Williams-is-certainly-not-?urn=golf-wp6755

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