Tiger Woods Won't Show Up for His Own Golf Tourney

Nov. 30, 2009— -- Tiger Woods announced today that he will not play in the golf tournament he was scheduled to host Tuesday, citing unspecified injuries he suffered when he mysteriously crashed his car outside his home late last week.

"I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said in a statement posted on his Web site. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry I can't be there."

The golf champion was supposed to play in and host the 2009 Chevron World Challenge and hold a press conference on Tuesday. The press conference, which was certain to be dominated by questions about the early morning crash, has been canceled along with Woods' appearance on the links.

"We support Tiger's decision and are confident the strong field and excellent course will provide an exciting week of competition at the Chevron World Challenge," said Greg McLaughlin, Tiger Woods Foundation President & CEO.

Woods will not participate in any other tournaments in 2009 and will return to action next year.

The golf star's absence at this week's golf tournament continues days of silence for Woods, who has stayed mum since plowing his SUV into a tree on his Florida property early Friday morning.

Despite inviting investigators to speak with him three times and then backing out, Woods has not made a statement to police, and his lawyer indicated to ABC News that he likely never would.

Sunday, Woods broke his silence about the SUV accident, issuing a statement callling the incident "a private matter."

The Florida Highway Patrol released a statement today saying that Woods has provided investigators with only his driver's license information, vehicle registration and current proof of insurance.

"The crash investigation is ongoing and charges are pending," according to the FHP.

Woods was scheduled to host and participate in the Chevron World Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club in California this week, an event that he has won four times since 2001.

Woods' earlier statement, also posted on his Web site, praised his wife for "acting courageously" to help him after his accident and denounced "unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me."

The reference in his statement to rumors may have involved a story published last week in the National Enquirer reporting that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they were recently together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.

The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press. On Sunday, she flew to Los Angeles and was met by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred at the airport.

Uchitel didn't speak to reporters except to ask that she be left alone. Allred, however, confirmed to the AP that she would be representing Uchitel.

Meanwhile, Woods said in the statement that the auto accident was "a private matter and I want to keep it that way."

Woods' lawyer, Mark NeJame, told ABC News Sunday, "We stand by his [Woods'] previously released statement, regarding his privacy," and said neither he nor Woods would be making comments to anybody, including, in Woods' case, the police.

Brennan said that regardless of what comes of the accident, it's unlikely Woods' relatively pristine public image would be badly tarnished.

"Obviously Tiger Woods and his people are very controlled, very disciplined -- he's possibly the most disciplined athlete on the planet," Brennan said. "I don't think he has anything to worry about with the current endorsers. [But] I don't know that others will be jumping on the bandwagon this week. .... My sense is that Tiger will be just fine in the long run."