Orlando, FL - 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink has to be one of the nicest golfers on the planet! Monday, he played in an outing that I was invited to at Reunion Resorts, the Arnold Palmer course, and he played a few holes with my foursome. Cink is an easy going guy and has a hunch that he just may be paired with Tiger Woods at Augusta National!

Golfer Stewart Cink may be paired with Tiger. (www.pga.com)

"I have known Tiger for a long time," Cink shared. "I have been in the Masters for a lot of years. I've played with Tiger a lot there and I just have this hunch on my part. I feel like I would fit the description of the kind of guy they would pair him with."

Talk about distractions! Cink says he has no idea how he will handle all the commotion, if he indeed does play with Tiger. "But whoever plays with him will be in for a very exciting couple of days! Obviously we all have been waiting for Tiger to come back. We all love watching Tiger hit shots. Golf is in the heart of every tour player. We all love golf. And to see Tiger, who is the best who has ever played in my opinion, hit the shots he hits, is pretty darn exciting."

Cink says that he and his wife have been friends with Tiger and Elin for many years but don't 'really' know him. Tiger doesn't really socialize with many golfers outside of the activities associated with Ryder Cup and other team competitions. It is the same dilemma that the media deals with. We cover the sport and there are beat reporters who cover every tournament but still do not know Tiger nor had any idea about his extracurricular activities. Cink went on to say that he is pondering what he will say to him when he sees him for the first time in a long time at Augusta National.

Tiger may have figured that giving five minutes to a television and cable network may appease all the media, somewhat. (www.blacksports.wordpress.com)

This past weekend, Tiger 'granted' five minute interviews to ESPN and to The Golf Channel and apparently to CBS, who apparently turned it down because of the time restrictions. It was an interesting gesture on Tiger's part. His camp obviously feels those two interviews will suffice and satisfy the hunger of the media and public curiosity? Will they replace any other one-on-one interview opportunities? Tiger may have figured that giving five minutes to a television and cable network may appease all the media, somewhat. Not so - as you will hear criticism from other networks, reporters and so-called public relations experts who feel that five minutes is not enough - that he needs to sit down with the media en masse and open himself up to every question for as long as they ask questions!

Give me a break! I am the first one to disapprove of Tiger's rampant infidelity but it is time for the media and the public to let it go. The major question that should have been asked and was not is whether or not Tiger took HGH from Dr. Galea, the Canadian doctor who treated him and who is now being investigated by federal authorities for distributing HGH to athletes. That is the most important question as it relates to his golf game and what he has accomplished. That question was not asked by the two reporters who had the five minutes with him.

Other than that, we know that Tiger admits that he screwed up. We know that he says he is sorry for putting his wife and mother through the hurt, embarrassment and humiliation of what seems like the most public, dragged out news scandal of all time. We know he is returning to play in The Masters, the Major he has won four times. We know he must have some trepidation about returning to the game based on how he will be received by the fans but that Augusta National is the most ideal spot for his comeback as they can protect him, via security and crowd behavior, better than any other event. Augusta National can restrict which media outlets get credentials – it is the most difficult credential to secure in all of sports – so we know that the tabloids and gossip magazines will not be buzzing around 'inside' the grounds, trying to get Tiger photos and quotes. Augusta National is also a tough ticket to acquire for spectators. They have a lottery system to award tickets to 'patrons' and if you are fortunate enough to get selected for these tickets, the last thing you want to do is 'misbehave,' lose your tickets and be escorted off the grounds forever! Yes, there is a reason The Masters is the tournament Tiger chose to come back to.

Woods will not be playing in legendary golfer Arnold Palmer's tournament. (www.losangeles.jollypeople.com)

He claims he did not play the Tavistock event, going on today and tomorrow on his home course at Isleworth between sister property Lake Nona and Arnold Palmer's event at Bay Hill which begins Thursday because he simply is not ready to play. He has been practicing with his coach Hank Haney. That is his prerogative. A columnist at the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday blasted Tiger for not supporting his hometown event calling Tiger selfish and self-serving and "yet another example of how Tiger has viewed Orlando since he moved here in 1996. We are merely his tax shelter; not his hometown," this writer stated. The writer went on to say "Tiger has gotten favored treatment here by our cops, our media, even our Perkins waitresses and this is how he thanks us…" Please! Tiger does not owe Orlando. Yes, it would be nice for him to play in his friend Arnold Palmer's Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, but you can't criticize which tournament Tiger decides to return to.

This may sound like I am protecting Tiger but I am not. I have lost a tremendous amount of respect for him in the last couple months. To me, my respect for him at this point will have nothing to do with his golf game. I am sure many guys out there will start rooting for him again and start singing his praises again when he starts winning golf tournaments again. Once that happens, the emphasis on news about Tiger will hopefully return to news about his golf game. But for me to respect him again he will have to show me he has changed for the better as a husband and father and that too is his own private struggle between him and his family. We can watch from afar because even if we do interview him over and over again, we will have no idea how he is truly conducting himself in that regard. Again it will be a private matter.

Let the Masters begin! And let Tiger get back to doing what he does best and that is playing golf. And let the criticism and over-analysis about his every move and what he 'should' have done and what he 'needs' to do, rest. Enough already! Can he keep his tee shots on the fairways at Augusta and can he get hot with his putter? And will his mental game be there and will he have the focus he needs to play well? Those are the questions I have. And they will be answered, not in an interview room or during a 'one-on-one' with a reporter , but once he starts playing golf again! And Cink and others on the Tour will be ready to welcome back the top golfer in the world. They will choose their welcoming words wisely but then once they tee it up, all the talk will once again be focused on his golf game.

NOTE:: Ann will be following The Masters with previews and up-dates on WFAN Radio.