Tiger Woods and his wife Elin, have announced the birth of their first son, Charlie Axel.
Mother and baby are healthy and recovering well and Woods admitted he felt blessed to have been able to give Sam Alexis, the couple's first child, a baby brother.
"Both Charlie and Elin are doing great and we want to thank everyone for their sincere best wishes and kind thoughts," Woods said.
"Sam is very excited to be a big sister and we feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. I also want to thank our doctors, nurses and the hospital staff for their personal and professional care.
"We look forward to introducing Charlie to you at the appropriate time."
Woods has been out of golf since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last June and news of the birth will cast further doubts over his return to the sport. In his absence, television viewing figures have fallen and the PGA Tour's sponsors are no longer guaranteed for the long term.
Woods had been expected to make his return before the Masters, possibly as early as the Accenture Match Play Championship on February 25, but the World No 1 has always maintained that his family would take priority. If he waits another month he could find he is no longer the world number one. With his points average going down because of his long injury lay-off Sergio Garcia has moved to number two and closed the gap to less than three points. Woods's lead was over 11 points last June.
"I have no restrictions - it's just a matter of getting my golf endurance up. I don't have my golf stamina back yet," he said. "I am excited about returning to competition. Early on I didn't miss golf because I enjoyed staying home with Elin and Sam and I knew I wasn't physically able to play.
"The truth is, I would have embarrassed myself. Now I'm getting my feel and practice back. It's just a matter of playing more on the course. I'm working hard to get myself back into tournament shape and will return as soon as I'm ready.
"My family take precedence over anything I do golf-wise. But I must admit, I am also excited about returning to competition."
Source:the times
Sunday, February 15, 2009
England find beauty in ugly loss
WALES are still on the road to glory, although this was their least impressive performance for some time. They missed desperately the genius of Shane Williams, they made baffling defensive lapses that infuriated their coaches, but they came home comfortably, their superiority was not remotely reflected on the scoreboard and it may well prove to be that this was their worst performance of the season.
At least England looked and played like a rugby team that cared. Gradually they have turfed out the youngsters and brought back hard-nosed professionals and it showed. England played their hearts out, they had far more momentum, far more to offer in attack and in terms of rhythm than they have shown for some time. They were upset with what they saw was the disdain of reactions to their recent performances but it was up to them to draw a different reaction. There was honour in t h e i r d e f e a t y e s t e r d a y , although it is still to be proved if this performance came from panic at what could have happened to them had Wales clicked or if they are genuinely getting better.
It was a frantic, compelling and enjoyable match. It was no classic because so much of it was the kicking contest you usually get under the experimental laws, but England can have no complaints, especially since they continue to cheat on t h e f l o o r a n d g i v e a w a y penalties. There was, however, a massive step up in the performance of their seasoned hard men such as Joe Worsley, Mike Tindall, Harry Ellis and Phil Vickery. England have finally realised after a terrible period of around five years that international rugby is no place to try out tyros.
Wales will be furious almost beyond belief at their lapses of concentration, which let England in twice when it appeared the match was practically over. They missed Gavin Henson in the midfield where, while Tom Shanklin played beautifully, there was a lack of the normal concert and it was blindingly obvious before and during the game that the great Shane Williams would be horribly missed. Those of us who once did not rate him too highly are now feeling worse and worse because his status grew again in his absence yesterday.
Worsley’s contribution in the tackle and in the battle for the loose ball was tremendous - not that you would have expected anything else. But England must now train on a long way. It is a brutal business and the fighting Irish will be in no mood to give them any quarter in Dublin in two weeks’ time, so if this result was based on passion they will have to add far more technical accomplishment if they are to hold Ireland off.
The Wales lineout was excellent but again there was nothing utterly convincing about them and they will need to step up their own act before they go to Paris a week on Friday. Certainly, their t i g h t f i v e a r e improving all the time but the fact they could so easily have thrown this away against a team as limited as England will be a very salutary reminder that they are by no means there yet, even though their top-four ranking in the world has been earned the hard way.
Wales dominated the opening quarter of play after England’s attempts to put in a massive start had foundered with a feeble attempt at a drop goal from Delon Armitage, and from the early stages the referee was warning England players for killing the ball.
Wales kicked three penalties in the opening quarter, two from Stephen Jones and one from Leigh Halfpenny. The first came after Jones almost walked past the tackle of Andy Goode and England had killed. Martyn Williams took a quick tap and crossed the line but was recalled by the referee.
The second penalty was kicked after Tindall killed the ball, for which the Gloucester centre was sent to the sin-bin. While he was away we had the third successful kick, awarded against Vickery in the scrum.
But we then had some excellent play by England, when they finally managed to clear out effectively and win some quick ball, their first of the season. A side-stepping run by Riki Flutey made some space and after the ball went through some phases, Mark Cueto gave the ball to Goode on the inside pass, Goode kicked ahead and Paul Sackey reached the ball first to score a try that brought the smile back to Sackey’s face after a long absence.
Goode then dropped a long goal to bring it back to 9-8 just after Tindall returned to the field and, even though Wales restored the former pattern of the match, there was an element of forcing about proceedings which helped England hold out until half-time. The 9-8 lead was an awful lot better for England than it could have been and the sight of the powerful Worsley tackling so well and Goode and Flutey starting to conjure gave them hope.
However, Wales decided to start taking the points instead of merely going through the patterns and they came out with eight points in the first six minutes of the second half, an explosive opening. First, Jamie Roberts, who had been well policed by England in the first half, broke straight past Tindall on a searing run. Halfpenny almost made the line but then we had the crudest kill by Goode that you could possibly imagine and the fly-half was sent to the sin-bin, leaving Stephen Jones to kick the penalty. England had revealed earlier in the week that they had been training with 14 men, which seemed to suggest their game-plan included cheating.
A few minutes later, Wales scored a wonderful try. Sackey was turned over with ridiculous ease, then Wales attacked. First they flipped the ball cleverly out of tackles, with Matthew Rees, Ian Gough and Adam Jones conjuring, then came a brilliant run from Lee Byrne. The Welsh full-back veered in, held up the ball beautifully and sent the dangerous Halfpenny over towards the corner. The conversion was missed but Wales were 17-8 ahead and still steaming along. From their next dangerous series of attacks, Stephen Jones was held out only by a desperate tackle by Sackey. However, the referee had spotted another England offence and Stephen Jones kicked the penalty to make it 20-8 as Toby Flood came on to replace the temporarily disgraced Goode.
Stephen Jones then took Wales more than a score ahead with a penalty after yet another England infringement after another series of Wales attacks and as it proved, that was easily enough. Flood missed a penalty which would have brought England to within a score in the last five minutes and England’s rather shapeless attempt to run their way back floundered on a determined Wales defence.
Wales came in comfortably, with their authority not reflected on the scoreboard, on a tidal wave of emotion and singing in the stands, and the Grand Slam champions are still on course.
Passion returned to white jerseys in Cardiff yesterday but excellence is still completely absent. Wales could and should have scored more at the end.
Star man:Tom Shanklin (team)
Scorers: Wales: Try: Halfpenny 44. Pens:S Jones (5), Halfpenny England: Tries:Sackey 24, Armitage 57. Con:Flood DG:Goode Yellow cards: England:Tindall 15, Goode 42
WALES: L Byrne; L Halfpenny, T Shanklin, J Roberts, M Jones; S Jones, M Phillips (D Peel 75min); G Jenkins, M Rees (H Bennett 67min), A Jones, I Gough, AW Jones, R Jones (capt), A Powell (D Jones 61min), M Williams
ENGLAND:D Armitage; P Sackey (M Tait 65min), M Tindall, R Flutey, M Cueto; A Goode (T Flood 53min), H Ellis; A Sheridan, L Mears (D Hartley 65min), P Vickery (J White 65min), S Borthwick (capt), N Kennedy (T Croft 55min), J Haskell (L Narraway 65min), N Easter, J Worsley
Referee:J Kaplan (South Africa) Attendance:75,200
Surce:the times
At least England looked and played like a rugby team that cared. Gradually they have turfed out the youngsters and brought back hard-nosed professionals and it showed. England played their hearts out, they had far more momentum, far more to offer in attack and in terms of rhythm than they have shown for some time. They were upset with what they saw was the disdain of reactions to their recent performances but it was up to them to draw a different reaction. There was honour in t h e i r d e f e a t y e s t e r d a y , although it is still to be proved if this performance came from panic at what could have happened to them had Wales clicked or if they are genuinely getting better.
It was a frantic, compelling and enjoyable match. It was no classic because so much of it was the kicking contest you usually get under the experimental laws, but England can have no complaints, especially since they continue to cheat on t h e f l o o r a n d g i v e a w a y penalties. There was, however, a massive step up in the performance of their seasoned hard men such as Joe Worsley, Mike Tindall, Harry Ellis and Phil Vickery. England have finally realised after a terrible period of around five years that international rugby is no place to try out tyros.
Wales will be furious almost beyond belief at their lapses of concentration, which let England in twice when it appeared the match was practically over. They missed Gavin Henson in the midfield where, while Tom Shanklin played beautifully, there was a lack of the normal concert and it was blindingly obvious before and during the game that the great Shane Williams would be horribly missed. Those of us who once did not rate him too highly are now feeling worse and worse because his status grew again in his absence yesterday.
Worsley’s contribution in the tackle and in the battle for the loose ball was tremendous - not that you would have expected anything else. But England must now train on a long way. It is a brutal business and the fighting Irish will be in no mood to give them any quarter in Dublin in two weeks’ time, so if this result was based on passion they will have to add far more technical accomplishment if they are to hold Ireland off.
The Wales lineout was excellent but again there was nothing utterly convincing about them and they will need to step up their own act before they go to Paris a week on Friday. Certainly, their t i g h t f i v e a r e improving all the time but the fact they could so easily have thrown this away against a team as limited as England will be a very salutary reminder that they are by no means there yet, even though their top-four ranking in the world has been earned the hard way.
Wales dominated the opening quarter of play after England’s attempts to put in a massive start had foundered with a feeble attempt at a drop goal from Delon Armitage, and from the early stages the referee was warning England players for killing the ball.
Wales kicked three penalties in the opening quarter, two from Stephen Jones and one from Leigh Halfpenny. The first came after Jones almost walked past the tackle of Andy Goode and England had killed. Martyn Williams took a quick tap and crossed the line but was recalled by the referee.
The second penalty was kicked after Tindall killed the ball, for which the Gloucester centre was sent to the sin-bin. While he was away we had the third successful kick, awarded against Vickery in the scrum.
But we then had some excellent play by England, when they finally managed to clear out effectively and win some quick ball, their first of the season. A side-stepping run by Riki Flutey made some space and after the ball went through some phases, Mark Cueto gave the ball to Goode on the inside pass, Goode kicked ahead and Paul Sackey reached the ball first to score a try that brought the smile back to Sackey’s face after a long absence.
Goode then dropped a long goal to bring it back to 9-8 just after Tindall returned to the field and, even though Wales restored the former pattern of the match, there was an element of forcing about proceedings which helped England hold out until half-time. The 9-8 lead was an awful lot better for England than it could have been and the sight of the powerful Worsley tackling so well and Goode and Flutey starting to conjure gave them hope.
However, Wales decided to start taking the points instead of merely going through the patterns and they came out with eight points in the first six minutes of the second half, an explosive opening. First, Jamie Roberts, who had been well policed by England in the first half, broke straight past Tindall on a searing run. Halfpenny almost made the line but then we had the crudest kill by Goode that you could possibly imagine and the fly-half was sent to the sin-bin, leaving Stephen Jones to kick the penalty. England had revealed earlier in the week that they had been training with 14 men, which seemed to suggest their game-plan included cheating.
A few minutes later, Wales scored a wonderful try. Sackey was turned over with ridiculous ease, then Wales attacked. First they flipped the ball cleverly out of tackles, with Matthew Rees, Ian Gough and Adam Jones conjuring, then came a brilliant run from Lee Byrne. The Welsh full-back veered in, held up the ball beautifully and sent the dangerous Halfpenny over towards the corner. The conversion was missed but Wales were 17-8 ahead and still steaming along. From their next dangerous series of attacks, Stephen Jones was held out only by a desperate tackle by Sackey. However, the referee had spotted another England offence and Stephen Jones kicked the penalty to make it 20-8 as Toby Flood came on to replace the temporarily disgraced Goode.
Stephen Jones then took Wales more than a score ahead with a penalty after yet another England infringement after another series of Wales attacks and as it proved, that was easily enough. Flood missed a penalty which would have brought England to within a score in the last five minutes and England’s rather shapeless attempt to run their way back floundered on a determined Wales defence.
Wales came in comfortably, with their authority not reflected on the scoreboard, on a tidal wave of emotion and singing in the stands, and the Grand Slam champions are still on course.
Passion returned to white jerseys in Cardiff yesterday but excellence is still completely absent. Wales could and should have scored more at the end.
Star man:Tom Shanklin (team)
Scorers: Wales: Try: Halfpenny 44. Pens:S Jones (5), Halfpenny England: Tries:Sackey 24, Armitage 57. Con:Flood DG:Goode Yellow cards: England:Tindall 15, Goode 42
WALES: L Byrne; L Halfpenny, T Shanklin, J Roberts, M Jones; S Jones, M Phillips (D Peel 75min); G Jenkins, M Rees (H Bennett 67min), A Jones, I Gough, AW Jones, R Jones (capt), A Powell (D Jones 61min), M Williams
ENGLAND:D Armitage; P Sackey (M Tait 65min), M Tindall, R Flutey, M Cueto; A Goode (T Flood 53min), H Ellis; A Sheridan, L Mears (D Hartley 65min), P Vickery (J White 65min), S Borthwick (capt), N Kennedy (T Croft 55min), J Haskell (L Narraway 65min), N Easter, J Worsley
Referee:J Kaplan (South Africa) Attendance:75,200
Surce:the times
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