In an atmosphere resembling a funeral more than a press conference, Tiger Woods read an apology from a written script today and by the time it was all said and done, he actually made George W. Bush look like an awesome public speaker.

The vast majority of the crowd was made up of Woods’ friends and a few family members including his mother who, in common funeral fashion, was dressed in black. Throughout the 13 minutes of the read, the ‘audience’ basically sat motionless staring ahead.

The delivery felt over-rehearsed and with no interaction with the audience, it was morgue-like.

It was hard not to imagine that the few times Woods looked directly into the camera to deliver a particular line, that there wasn’t a note on the paper saying ‘Look into the lens for several seconds now’; it felt that rehearsed and premeditated.

The question will be debated, ‘Was Tiger’s apology sincere?’ You be the judge, here’s the video here:

While this debate picks up steam over the weekend, the fact he hand-picked a few media members and basically held a closed-door meeting with instructions to the attendees not to ask any questions should come into play.

That in itself will have many people doubting Tiger’s sincerity and intentions.

During the speech Woods said he was sorry for the “irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.” and referring to his friends said “Now, every one of you has good reason to be critical of me.”

Woods wife Elin was not in attendance and he explained that no personal questions about his wife and he will ever be answered.

He went on to say “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was unacceptable and I am the only person to blame,” and “I do plan to return to golf one day. I just don’t know when that day will be. I don’t rule out it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game.”

He closed out the address talking about the benefits of being brought up through his mother’s faith, Buddhism then after finishing at the podium he walked over and hugged his mother.

The sports airwaves are sure to be sizzling with this debate into next week and already got off to a hot start.

Skip Bayless on ESPN First Take questioned the sincerity of those few remarks delivered straight into the lens while Rick Reilly said he thought it was totally sincere.

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