Baby girl could alter Tiger Woods plans

The birth of Sam Alexis Woods, the newborn daughter of Tiger Woods, could make the champ alter his future plans.

Baby girl could alter Tiger Woods plans On June 18th, right after Tiger Woods finished second at the U.S. Open, his wife Ellen gave birth to Sam Alexis Woods in Orlando, Florida. The world's No. 1 golfer has always insisted that he is a family man, and many are left wondering if Sam Alexis could be the end of Tiger's career. And the 31-year old champion said the birth of his daughter might affect how much golf he plays in future.

On his website, Tiger Woods commented:

"We want to thank our doctors and the hospital staff for all their dedicated and hard work. This is truly a special time in our lives and we look forward to introducing Sam to our family and friends over the next few weeks. We thank everyone for their well wishes and continued respect of our privacy."

The line Tiger Woods draws between golf and personal life does nothing to calm the rumors that the end of his dominance on the course is near. For example, Tiger Woods won't reveal his schedule until a week before a given tournament, he allows only his friends inside his home and the name of his yacht is "Privacy".

Although major life moments have shown no effect on Tiger Woods game, such as his marriage or the passing away of his father, his obsession with privacy could indeed slow him down. It took the press 2 weeks to obtain pictures of Sam Alexis. Woods have yelled at photographers on few occasions, when "too many" photos of him and his wife Ellen have been taken. And Tiger Woods will definitely avoid exposing his daughter to the media, by taking his family on major golf tournaments.

The big question remains - will Tiger Woods decide to spend more time with his family after the birth of his daughter? Looking after a newborn is an enormous task for both parents, and being away from his family for weeks may not be a sacrifice Woods is willing to make.

The sportsbooks, however, haven't written off Tiger Woods just yet. He was scheduled to play in Michigan for the 2007 Buick Open PGA Tour, but after his announcement, that he will skip the tour, Woods was taken off the books.

For the 2007 British Open, however, Tiger Woods is still the favorite, on either side of the Atlantic. Bodog Sports offers betting odds on Tiger winning the 2007 British Open at 5/2, and the U.K. online bookmaker Bet365 favors Woods at 11/5.

Published on 06/26/2007