Woods turns sour at personal questions in Ireland

ADARE, Ireland - After another warm welcome from the Irish public, Tiger Woods turned curt and dismissive at a news conference Tuesday when asked about his state of mind since the sex scandal that has wrecked his marriage.

Woods was questioned following his 3-under-par 69 in his final round of the charity J.P. McManus Invitational Pro-Am, his first foreign appearance since the turmoil.

When asked whether his liaisons with other women had been "worth it" since it cost him his marriage and endorsements, Woods replied, "I think you're looking too deep into this." He torpedoed the follow-up question with an icily firm "Thank you."

Woods is returning immediately to his Florida home rather than heading to Scotland to prepare for next week's British Open at St. Andrews, one of his favorite courses and where he won Opens in 2000 and 2005. Once the subject was broached, the previously easy-speaking Woods flipped a switch into staccato half-sentences.

How will you prepare? "Practicing."

Where? "Home."

Why not try and play some links golf in Scotland beforehand? "I need to get home." Silence.

Why? "See my kids." Silence.

Throughout the 15-minute news conference Woods had to parry various attempts at a comment on how his marital implosion was affecting his game.

"There are times in one's life when things get put in perspective, one being when my father passed, and obviously what I've been going through lately," he said in his most expansive reply.

But when asked again whether he was finding personal worries overshadowing his game, Woods clearly had enough.

"Everything's working itself out," he said.

When asked if that meant his troubles were still undermining his golf, Woods descended into glum-eyed silence, offering an expression somewhere between a grimace and a frown.

Out on the Adare Manor Golf Course, Woods felt nothing but love and admiration from the more than 20,000 fans who lined the course five-deep to watch his every drive, approach shot, and putt.

Armed with a full night's sleep, Woods breezed through a course that had befuddled him Monday, when he shot a 7-over 79 to fall near the bottom of the field of 54 professionals.

His Irish caddie, silver-haired Tipperary car dealer Arthur Pierse, said Woods was exhausted Monday after flying overnight following the AT&T National outside Philadelphia, where he finished 46th. He climbed back into the middle of the pack Tuesday.

Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland finished first after shooting a 68 for a two-day score of 3-under 141. Woods finished 7 shots back, tied for 24th with six others.

Every five years, Irish billionaire McManus persuades many of the world's top golfers to join his charity event in Adare, where three-member teams of amateurs pay $155,000 for the chance to play alongside the pros.

On Tuesday, Woods attacked the outward nine, birdieing three holes and narrowly missing others when putts clipped the hole. He missed an eagle on the seventh, the first par-5 target, by barely an inch. The day before, the same hole produced a double bogey into a pond.

Woods' game suffered once the weather took a decidedly Irish turn at the 10th hole. Drab gray skies that previously offered soft rain deteriorated into an in-your-face icy shower. Woods, setting aside his umbrella for rushed shots, underhit his approach into a bunker, then shanked the following chip shot eight feet right of the hole. Woods slapped his wedge into the sand and groaned before 2-putting for his day's first bogey.