It's not often that Tiger Woods gets outplayed. But it's happening right now.

In the hours since his early-Friday-morning accident, facts, innuendo and supposition have combined to put a minor one-car bump in a cloistered Florida subdivision onto front pages worldwide. Why? Because this story presses all the necessary buttons: celebrity, sex and violence. And if it's left to grow on its own, it's going to get much worse before it gets any better.

Tiger's handlers are in unfamiliar territory on this one. In the golf media, Woods often gets handled with kitten mittens because his handlers have the power to cut off access to any media outlet that gets rough. Everybody plays ball in order to keep the access alive.

But this story isn't in the realm of golf writers anymore. Take a look at that photo at right, which includes graphics done by the Wall Street Journal. When they start bringing in the helicopters to cover your saga, matters have grown beyond the point where a simple "this is a private matter" read by some spokesperson can shut down the story. 

More importantly, TMZ and other gossip media outlets don't care about preserving relationships or access to Woods. As long as they're conceivably staying within the bounds of legality, they can throw out accusations, suppositions and speculation without fear of reprisal. And once a particularly juicy element gets out into the public headspace, it's impossible to pull back. As the old saying goes, you can't unring a bell.

It may already be happening. For instance, Rachel Uchitel, Woods' alleged mistress, is telling a reasonably convincing story that she couldn't possibly be involved with Woods. Even so, her name's already stained -- twenty years from now, her name and Woods' will still be intertwined.

And as for Tiger's wife Elin? The picture that's developing of her isn't a flattering one either. Why did she smash out the back window of the SUV if she was trying to "rescue" Tiger? TMZ is reporting even darker allegations, the kind that can ruin a reputation and stain a marriage permanently.

So for his own good, and the good of his family, it's time for Tiger -- not his faceless handlers via press release, not his attorneys on camera, but Tiger himself -- to step up and address this.  The guy enjoys more goodwill than practically any other human being on earth, and it's time to tap into some of that. We're a forgiving people, but not if we're getting the story from PR flacks.

If he's done wrong, he needs to admit it. If he hasn't done wrong, he needs to deny -- in his own words, in front of questioning -- the allegations against him. At the very least, he needs to get a handle on the stories that are taking root before they get any more outlandish.

Despite his wishes -- he named his yacht "Privacy," and has filed at least two different lawsuits on those who infringe upon his private life -- Tiger cannot ever be a completely private figure. That's the devil's bargain of celebrity. And for a guy whose image is at least partly built on being a devoted family man, a respectful son and doting father, allegations of infidelity and domestic discord just can't be allowed to flourish.

So step up, Tiger. End all this, or at least get control of it. Because right now, you're getting worked over like you've never been before.

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For further updates and other golf news, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' Devil Ball Golf and follow us on Twitter. 

Right around 3 p.m. ET, the Internet suddenly ignited with news guaranteed to cut through the hue and cry of Black Friday: Tiger Woods has been in a car accident!

Any time a celebrity's name is mentioned in connection with an automobile wreck, there's prurient interest, so the story was guaranteed to blow up. Within minutes, it was all over Twitter, television and websites large and small.

What had happened? Was Tiger hurt? Some outlets began reporting that he was "seriously injured" – based on officials' statements coming out of the area around Woods' Florida home – which ratcheted up the severity of the situation. Could this be even worse than reported?

As it turned out ... no.

It appears now that Tiger suffered only facial lacerations. His was the only car involved in the wreck. And it also appears that Tiger might have already been released from the hospital even before the story broke, as the accident apparently happened in the early-morning hours.

What the heck is going on here? Was Woods at home with an ice pack on his head while ESPN and Co. were speculating on what golf would be like without him?

The Woods camp is stingier with information than the CIA even in the best of times. So with a potential crisis unfolding, it makes sense that they'd batten down the hatches, possibly with the hopes that this wouldn't even make the news. (Fat chance.) But with the story predictably exploding, Tiger's office eventually did release a statement confirming Woods was OK.

"He was admitted, treated and released [Friday] in good condition," the statement read.

But before reports began to filter through that Woods had been released from the hospital (the AP notes that the accident report wasn't released until nearly 12 hours after the incident), speculation ran rampant. And in the post-first, verify-later world of the Internet, it's not surprising that "Tiger bumps a fire hydrant" became "Tiger is seriously injured" within minutes.

But we'll refrain from pointing fingers, and just be glad Tiger seems to be OK.

As far as we know.

UPDATE, 9:14 p.m. ET: Okay, things are starting to get a little stranger now.

New facts are emerging in this story, facts which seem reasonable enough when taken individually but a little more ... curious when taken all together. Said facts include:

-Tiger hit a fire hydrant and a tree in a neighbor's yard at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning.

-Windermere police found Woods laying in the street with his wife Elin beside him. (The AP used the word "hovering," but we're not going to speculate that far.)

-Elin told officers that she was in the house when she heard the accident, then came outside and "broke the back window with a golf club," according to Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor.

-The Florida Highway Patrol apparently was the first to report Woods' facial injuries as "serious," which set off the firestorm noted above.

-TMZ, quoting several local law enforcement sources, said that a "domestic issue" preceded the wreck. (UPDATE: Other sources, by name, have said that there is no indication this is a domestic issue, but that final judgment will have to wait until Woods is interviewed Saturday afternoon by Florida Highway Patrol officers.)

-Woods made headlines the day before Thanksgiving when a National Enquirer report surfaced that linked him with Rachel Uchitel of New York. 

-Waggle Room, doing some good old-fashioned journalism, tracked down Ms. Uchitel, who revealed that she has not been contacted by the mainstream media. Score one for blogs!

-And coming up this week? Tiger's own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, at which he traditionally holds a Tuesday press conference. If there is one, Yahoo! Sports will be there.

There's surely a reasonable explanation for all this ... and it's now up to Tiger to provide one.

UPDATE 2: 8:58 a.m. Eastern: TMZ is now reporting that Woods' facial lacerations were caused by Elin Woods: "We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club."

Which certainly sounds more plausible than "she broke out the back window of an Escalade to drag him to safety over two rows of seats." But bear in mind that there are no names attached to this report.

One place where a name is indeed attached is Waggle Room, where Ryan Ballengeee talked to Rachel Uchitel and she denied any involvement whatsoever with Woods.

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For further updates and other golf news, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' Devil Ball Golf and follow us on Twitter. 

With the decade of the 2000s almost over, we're running through the best of the last ten years in the world of golf. Today: the best PGA players of the last ten years. 

1. Tiger Woods. You knew this. Your grandmother knew this. Tiger is in the conversation for best athletes of all time, not just best golfers of the decade. But, for the record and by the numbers, he had 56 PGA wins and 12 majors in the 2000s. Compare that with the players below for an idea of how dominant he's been.

2. Vijay Singh. You'd think that Mickelson was the no-brainer No. 2, but get this -- Vijay has as many majors, two more tournament wins, three top money list finishes, and the 2008 FedEx Cup. 

3. Phil Mickelson. He's got more prominence than Vijay, and going forward he'll be more of a challenge for Tiger, but the numbers put him just behind Singh. Phil's got three majors, which along with Vijay and Padraig Harrington is more than anybody else in golf in the 2000s except you-know-who. He's also snagged 24 wins over the decade.

4. Ernie Els. There's a fairly steep dropoff from 3 to 4, but nonetheless this isn't a bad place to be. With 9 PGA Tour wins and 17 European Tour wins, including the 2002 British Open, Els was at his best in the early part of the decade.

5. Jim Furyk. He's camped out in the top 10 almost every year since 2003, and during the decade he's won nine events, including the 2003 U.S. Open. Consistency throughout the decade puts him right here, though some more wins would have been nice.

6. Padraig Harrington. Feast or famine, but when he feasts, it's all-you-can-eat. He's got 13 European Tour wins and five PGA Tour wins, including three double-counted majors in those totals -- the 2007 and 2008 British and the 2008 PGA. His lack of consistency cost him, but he's a good bet to move up this list in the future.

7. Retief Goosen. He's dropped off the pace of the early part of the decade, where he won the U.S. Open twice, in 2001 and 2004, but he's still secured seven PGA wins, including the Transitions earlier this year.

8. Davis Love III. His best golf bracketed the turn of the millennium, but he's still achieved four top-10 money list finishes and snagged seven tournaments, highlighted by his four-win 2003. 

9. David Toms. He's been an anonymous sort of champion, but with nine PGA wins in the 2000s, topped by the 2001 PGA, he's a champion nonetheless. Majors carry significant weight in these rankings; the best have to come up big at the biggest moments.

10. Mike Weir. And here the debate really begins. Weir has 7 wins in the 2000s, one more than Stewart Cink, and his 2003 Masters gives him the slightest of edges over Perry and Garcia. He ranks 11th in career earnings among 2009 players, but his consistent decade-long play is enough to get him into the top 10 here.

Also receiving much consideration: Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia. And now it's your turn. Who else belongs on this list? Who should move up/down? Have your say!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! (Well, to our American readers, anyway. To the rest of you -- have patience. We're going to be in a turkey-induced coma for most of Thursday.) Hope you have a happy and safe holiday.

We're off Thursday -- see coma line above -- but will be back on Friday, continuing with our Best of the Decade series and some other goodness. (In the meantime, if you're dodging relatives and want to read more from me, click here.)

Enjoy the holiday, all!

Make of this what you will. The National Enquirer, in its Dec. 7 issue, is alleging that Tiger Woods has been stepping out on wife Elin with a "New York party girl" named Rachel Uchitel.

As noted by Sports by Brooks (and read by me while I was standing in line buying the turkey today), the young lady in question has a bit of a rep for chasing married celebs. The Enquirer charges that she and Woods, uh, "met" in New York, Las Vegas and Australia. Matter of fact, the Enquirer apparently tracked down Ms. Uchitel in Australia while Tiger was there for the Masters -- at the same hotel where Tiger was staying! Heavens to betsy!

Look, I'm not giving a bit of credence to this report, I'm just laying it out there for your commenting pleasure.  SBB goes into much more detail about the backstory -- Uchitel apparently lost her fiance in 9/11, but has since dated a whole host of celeb names. As Brooks notes, the idea that Woods would mess around with someone so high-profile is insane, either in reality or on the part of Tiger himself.

So until we get some more proof -- not that we're looking -- let's file this one under "nonstory" and get back to focusing on Jon and Kate!

Enquirer: Tiger Cheating On Wife With 'Party Girl' [Sports By Brooks]

It's almost the end of the 2000s, and Devil Ball is looking back on the best (and worst) figures, matches and storylines of the decade. Today, the best LPGA players of the 2000s.

1. Annika Sorenstam.  Simply the best of the modern era, and one of the best ever to play the game. She ranked #1 every year from 2001 to 2005, and notched 54 wins over the decade.

2.  Lorena Ochoa. Picked up literally where Annika left off, ranking No. 1 on the money list from 2006 to 2008. She's won 27 tournaments in her career and remains the unparalleled top player in the game, though she's now getting a serious challenge from Jiyai Shin.

3. Karrie Webb.  The top player at the turn of the millennium, she's slipped a touch, but still authored one of the best tournaments of the decade at the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. Won 20 tournaments over the 2000s, but that includes some lean years indeed--other than 2006, when she won 5, she only won three tournaments from 2003 through this year.

4. Se Ri Pak. Dominant in the early part of the decade, when she won 13 tournaments over three seasons from 2001-2003. She took 16 tournaments in the 2000s, including three majors, and spent much of the decade ranked second only to Sorenstam.

5. Cristie Kerr. She's labored under the shadow of more dominant players, but she's finished in the top 10 every season after 2003. Over the 2000s, she's won 12 tournaments, including the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, and has been in the mix in almost every major.

6. Paula Creamer. She's been in the top 10 every year of her career except 2006, when she was ranked #11. She's won eight tournaments, but is still chasing that elusive first major.

7. Jiyai Shin. Highly successful in the KLPGA, with 20 wins, before making the jump to the LPGA, she's nonetheless won six tournaments in the last two years, and ended her very first LPGA season ranked #1. Would be much higher on this list with a little bit more playing time in her past.

8. Suzann Pettersen. Has come on strong late in the decade, finishing in the top seven the last three year. She's won six tournaments over that span, five of which came in 2007, including the LPGA Championship.

9. Juli Inkster. A consistent top-10 finisher around the turn of the millennium, she's nonetheless recorded four top-10 seasonal finishes and won nine tournaments in the 2000s.

10. Meg Mallon. Another golfer whose best years came before the 2000s, but she still won two majors in the decade and recorded two top-10 seasonal finishes. 

Also receiving consideration: Angela Stanford, Yani Tseng, Seon Hwa Lee. And now it's your turn. Who did we miss? Who should be ranked higher/lower? Have at it!

Time again for another Golfcast featuring me chatting with Dogs That Chase Cars' Shane Bacon. Today's topic: caddying at a tournament where absolutely nobody feels like playing! Yes, Shane was at the LPGA Tour Championship, and he didn't have the best of times there. He takes us through what it's like to sit around and do nothing for days on end, waiting to see how your tournament life will play out. From there, we segue to talking about golfing with the family and the horror that is iron-head covers. It's a good way to cruise into the Thanksgiving holiday.

As always, we welcome your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations on the podcast. Hit me up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com. And if you've got a question or comment for Shane and I to kick around, call our Skype line at 678-389-9173 and leave your message. Click the little arrow below to play the podcast or right-click it to download, and hit the iTunes site linked below to subscribe. Have at it!

Devil Ball Golfcast, Episode 26 -- Strolling soggy fairways

You've done the Happy Gilmore golf swing, right? Please tell me you have. Please don't say you've never set a ball on a tee, taken five steps back, then slap-shotted the ball into the stratosphere. (It'll add 10 percent to your drive -- Padraig Harrington proved it.)

Of course, if you manage to pull this off without snapping either your driver's shaft or your own wrists, you've got to deal with the fact that you've just rocketed a ball off the tee with no idea of where it could end up. Best case: you just lost a ball. Worst case: you're in Nova Scotia and you're gonna be in trouble with the law.

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog brings us the story of Bezanson v. Hayter, a case in which the defendant Happy Gilmore'd a shot right into the wrist of the plaintiff. Said plaintiff with said wrecked wrist is now unable to do his work, which apparently involves a chain saw and is therefore by definition cooler than anything you or I do.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court determined that the defendant "violated his standard of care to other golfers," and that the Happy Gilmore swing is not a "natural risk" of golfing. Come on, Nova Scotia! Next you're gonna say that we can't use those exploding gag golf balls on the tee! You're going to take that laff riot away from us?

As the WSJ notes, this wasn't just a case of a couple dudes swingin' away on the course. No, this was a bachelor party, one which involved beer, pot and unsanctioned cart behavior. The defendant noted that he "consumed nine beers and half a pint of Baja Rosa tequila," and in my humble opinion the court should show him some leniency just for being able to stand upright after that, much less golf.

Anyway, there you have it. If you're going to do the Happy Gilmore swing on your Turkey Day outing, don't do it in Nova Scotia. And if you do hit somebody, don't leave any witnesses.

A post about beer, golf, pot, Hollywood and Canadian tort law [WSJ Law Blog]

It's the end of the decade of the 2000s, and we're looking back on some of golf's most memorable moments. Today, it's the best shots by the best player in the game. Tiger fans, enjoy. 

1. 2005 Masters, 16th hole. We called this the best shot of the decade a week ago, and our opinion hasn't changed. Check it:

2. 2002 PGA Championship, 18th hole. The one shot we don't have video from, but it's here because Tiger has ranked it as the No. 1 shot he's ever hit in his professional career. He was 202 yards from the pin in a fairway bunker amid 20-mph wins. Not only did he clear the bunker, he stuck the ball to within 12 feet of the hole. A beauty that you'll have to picture in your mind's eye.

Read More »

Tiger Woods returned to Stanford University, his alma mater, on Saturday night to be inducted into Stanford's athletic Hall of Fame at halftime of the Stanford-Cal game. Tiger is accustomed to entire continents paying homage to him, so when a crowd of rowdy Cal students decided to boo the Great One, he was visibly flustered. (Especially with Stevie Williams nowhere nearby to defend him.) Here, check the video:

"The second half is ours," Tiger finished, a bit lamely, but alas, it wasn't to be -- Cal beat Stanford 34-28 in the latest installment of The Big Game. It was no lateral-through-the-band classic, but still -- not a bad new chapter to add to Big Game lore.

Huh. Somebody clicking a camera in your backswing probably doesn't sound so bad now, does it, Tiger? 

(And since the comments are already beginning -- Tiger was booed because of the rivalry between Cal and Stanford. It has nothing to do with jealousy or politics or race or anything else; it was school spirit, plain and simple.)

Tiger Woods Booed At Stanford [Huffington Post]