IGNORE the cuts to his face, the sore head and the damaged car, Tiger Woods will be more concerned this week at having to deal with the one thing he hates more than any other - intrusion into his life away from the golf course.

As the Florida police's requests to speak to the world No. 1 golfer about his car crash last Friday were rejected for a second straight day last Saturday, the American's deep sense of privacy is fuelling rumours which have sprung from the accident, The Guardian reported. On blogs all over the Web, the conclusion was the same - this was a domestic squabble, a thought that was not hindered by the National Enquirer's story that Woods was involved with an American woman, Rachel Uchitel, out of his marriage with Norwegian former model Elin Nordegren.

The wilder plots even insisted that Woods' facial injuries were caused by his wife and that the crash was caused by her attacking the car with a golf club as he drove off, The Guardian reported.

No one, of course, really knows anything other than the fact that the crash happened, that Tiger was injured, that his wife had indeed used a club to smack the car (to get him out, it is claimed) and that he was treated in hospital before being allowed to return home.

Indeed, answers about the 34-year-old's private life are impossible to come by because it has become clear, in the 13 years since he became a professional golfer, that he is the most intensely private, high-profile player not just in golf but in any sport.

When he turned professional in 1996, Woods was not only younger but very different.

Remember the great, beaming smiles he offered the crowds? Recall the joyous gallops along fairway edges to high-five fans after yet another extraordinary shot?

Those were as short-lived as his dominance in golf has been lengthy. Ever since an in-depth interview by GQ magazine early in his career backfired when the journalist chose to write about the dirty jokes he used to crack with fellow golfers, Woods has restricted his access to the occasional bland television chat with a selected interviewer.

According to The Guardian, along the way he erected a barricade between himself and the media. In recent years, he seems to have extended this barrier to keep out the public as well, giving the impression that his desire for privacy has become an obsession.

Indeed, the name of his personal yacht reflects this need: it is "Privacy". Woods loves the fact that no one can get to him when he is on board his yacht.

When he was asked why he was such a keen scuba-diver, he said: "Because the fish don't ask for autographs."

It is a hard-nosed attitude that has created a wall between him and the game's customers.

Similarly, his relationship with the press is at an all-time low.

Yet, the more he tries to manipulate the agenda while his advisers suppress much that would be innocently interesting about such a high-profile personality, the more the media seize on tidbits and gossip - and often get it wrong. It is a vicious circle, and one that can only end in tears.

Whether this is that time is unclear.

It just might be.

Whatever happens, Woods knows that he has unprecedented power as a sportsman.

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