To say this week has been one of the weirdest in golf history would be an understatement. We had golf, we had speeches and we had golf speeches. Who won this week and who lost on the golf course? 

Rips

Ian Poulter: In 2007, Poulter made himself the butt of jokes worldwide when he predicted that when he plays to his full potential, it would only be, "me and Tiger." This week in Arizona, he played to that potential, and ran through the bracket. It was his first win on the PGA Tour in 103 starts, and after a stellar Ryder Cup in 2008, where he went 4-1-0, Poulter has quickly become the hottest match play golfer in the world. 

Ryo Ishikawa: The 18-year-old took out Michael Sim in the first round and Ross McGowen in the second round before losing to Thongchai Jaidee. It was another good showing for Ishikawa, who continues to play better on American soil.

The English: Poulter and Paul Casey make the finals, which meant the English flag was flying extra high in Arizona. Along with those two, McGowen upset top seed Steve Stricker in the first round, Oliver Wilson made it to the elite eight by beating another Englishman, Luke Donald, who won two matches himself. The only real disappointment for the Queen's country was Lee Westwood, who couldn't make it out of the second round, but all in all, a solid showing from England.

Phil Mickelson: He didn't play this week at the Accenture because he was on a family vacation, but the more Tiger Woods becomes less of a golfer and more of a gossip columnist's dream, the better for Lefty, who will be in the field at this week's Waste Management Open. 

Shanks

Sergio Garcia's Weekend: It was great to see Garcia play well early in the week, but boy did he disappear in his final two matches. A 7 and 6 route by Poulter in the semifinals was followed up by a 5 and 4 defeat to Villegas on Sunday, that saw Garcia fail to make a single birdie in 14 holes. 

The One seeds: Golf sure isn't March basketball, that's for sure. Stricker, the top seed of the entire field, lost in his first match. Martin Kaymer, Jim Furyk and Lee Westwood were able to make it to Thursday, but that was where their journey would end as well. 

Henrik Stenson: Stenson showed up in Marana, Ariz. with flu-like symptoms, but decided to try and play anyway. That was, play one hole. Stenson took to the course to play the first hole in his opening match against Ben Crane, but conceded the match after number one so he could collect a paycheck instead of giving his spot to someone else. 

The Americans: Want to see the future of golf on this side of the pond without Tiger or Phil? Only one American (Stewart Cink) made it to the final eight, none were in the final four and big names like Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and Ryan Moore lost in the first round. 

It was one of the most celebrated media events in the history of our country, and it didn't involve a serial killer or a politician. It had nothing to do with the well-being of our world, but it did deal with the most famous athlete of this generation.

Tiger Woods spoke at 11 AM ET. He told us he was sorry, he told us he wouldn't be golfing anytime soon and he let us know that rehab will be his temporary address.

He spoke vehemently against domestic violence, performance enhancing drugs and the media abuse of his family. 

Most importantly ... he was there, in person, giving us a little something before he disappears again for god knows how long. The next time we see Tiger will most likely be at a golf event, swinging a club and talking to the media about his game. The healing has started for the Woods' family, and now, it can start for us too.

Enjoy the weekend, folks. On Saturday, expect something a little different around these parts than what we've had the last couple of days -- actual golf news. Hit 'em straight. 

During Friday's statement Tiger Woods looked like, at any moment, tears would start flowing. Unlike Hoylake, when Woods broke down after the final putt dropped, Tiger was able to keep those emotions at bay while delivering his speech to the masses.

The same cannot be said about The Golf Channel's Charlie Rymer. After Tiger walked away from the podium, the network switched instantly to their studio guys, and Rymer was asked to comment (via Hot Clicks):

Rymer opens his statement explaining that Tiger was "geniune and authentic," and that was when he started to get choked up.

He was then asked, "Why so much emotion from you in watching Tiger speak?" His response: 

"When I see someone going through something extremely painful, and being very geniune, it hits me very hard, that's the reason for my reaction. I really like the fact that he cast all blame on himself. It was very clear that, 'I have done this.' He wasn't trying to put it on anybody else as we saw a little bit earlier. You get the sense that this is full admission and submission."

He went on to talk about how Tiger's true legacy is his kids, and he got choked up again when explaining that if Tiger does turn things around, his kids will have the chance to say that their dad faced adversity and changed because of it.

Obviously Friday was an emotion-filled day in the golf world. Rymer was one of the few that took it personally. What was your reaction to Tiger as he spoke for the first time since the car accident?

Tiger Woods accomplished what he needed to Friday in order to take the first steps on the road to image recovery. He took full responsibility for his transgressions, his contrition seemed sincere and he talked about specific personal changes he needed to make to live a "life of integrity."

He did not take questions, which was the right thing to do.

However, Woods would have helped himself even further by assuring the media that, at the appropriate time, and certainly before he tees it up again at a PGA Tour event, he will address their questions -- as long as they do not cross a certain line.

He shouldn't be expected to provide the kinds of details that certain, less than respectable, media outlets will seek. But he will have a better chance to put this behind him if he answers the responsible questions at some point. All he needs to do is give the media one opportunity, and then he should be allowed to move on with his recovery, and life.

Woods, though, in expressing his outrage, lumped all the media into one general category and that is not fair. There are plenty of outlets who are not trying to scrounge for every piece of dirt.

Some have suggested that he change the narrative and win back the support of women and, ultimately endorsements, he should do an Oprah Winfrey-style confessional sit-down. By definition those are personal conversations of the nature Tiger told us loud and clear are not going to happen.

Much of the analysis leading up to his statement focused on the level of control Woods exerted over the arrangements, but he was just doing what most public figures only wish they could in a crisis situation: Control the environment so that it best serves his needs.

By filling the room with the friends and associates he most wanted to apologize to, he created a more natural - and supportive - environment for his statement and in a sense deputized a number of potential advocates to serve as an echo chamber for his message.

There are not many athletes who can command the networks to pool their coverage and break into regular programming.  Woods can and he was smart to play that hand.

The Tiger Woods narrative isn't going to change much off of Friday's statement.  Nor would it change much by sitting down with Larry King, Matt Lauer or Diane Sawyer.

The Tiger Woods narrative will advance when he is back inside the ropes playing the game better than anyone on the planet.

On Friday, the world stopped for one man: Tiger Woods. He was the center of everyone's world when he delivered a 14 minute speech that touched on his sorrow, his guilt and the fact that he won't be returning to golf anytime soon. So, what grades do we give his speech. Read on.

Sincerity -- B: If there is one athlete better suited to deliver a speech where you must make yourself seem a certain way, I don't know him. Tiger is a master of the game, and he made it seem like he was very sorry for what he had done. Did it come across to the public? Sure, his eyes welled up when he first approach the podium and he looked like he genuinely was upset with himself. Do we know for sure how he feels after this speech? No, and we will never. That's Tiger for you. 

Speech -- C-: Listen, I'm all for writing down a speech and delivering it when it is this monumental, but like a lot of people have remarked on the Internet, it was a little too robotic to take completely in. Tiger spoke for 14 minutes, most of those as he read from a statment, and his .... constant .... pausing made it almost unbearable. As my buddy Dan Levy from On the DL remarked, "Why can't these people just talk like people?" Tiger has always been remarked as a great guy to chat with and talk to. That didn't come across in this speech, and the entire time you were waiting for the teleprompter guy to write something funny just to break the tension.

Apology -- A: He apologized to the right people, in the right order. He said that even though he has discussed things with Elin, nothing can be done with words, just actions. Check. He said that he has let his sponsors and fans down and for that he feels terrible. OK. He beat into the ground that he felt he was above the law but now realizes that morality is a thing that translates to all individuals. All right. All in all, his apologies seemed legit and for that you have to give him some respect.

PR Tactics -- C: Tiger's PR team, for all intents and purposes, has been disappointing at best. Waiting 84 days before allowing Tiger to speaked seemed sketchy, and the way they handled most everything over the past three months has been very hazy (to the point that I got e-mailed from a PR head that works with another high profile PGA Tour golfer, saying he and his coworkers laughed at one of my posts on how bad Tiger's team had been doing because they had been saying it for weeks). Tiger approached the bench as plain as possible, offered up a speech that seemed sincere for the most part and ended with a "made for TV" hug with his mom. That said, it was all too planned. The general public isn't nearly as clueless as we once were to Tiger's antics, and the approach would have worked better if it had been more real, without notes, and just a man speaking from the heart.

Wardrobe -- D-: The jacket and shirt were simple and respectable, but how did nobody fix the man's collar before he went out to give the most important speech of his career? Fail. 

Give Tiger Woods -- and his speechwriters, as there almost surely were -- credit. His Friday morning press conference was a case study in how to perform a public apology. He expressed contrition, he apologized to a laundry list of people he had wronged, he promised to continue to seek treatment and make amends.

The real question now is this: how can he expect anyone to believe him?

The Tiger Woods scandal isn't about golf. It never was. Had any other golfer gotten caught in multiple extramarital affairs, it would have been late-night joke fodder for a few days. But this story swelled as it did because Woods is more than just a golfer. He's an icon, a symbol, an inspiration and a role model. And when he let his family down, he also disappointed millions of fans -- and cost quite a few people a whole lot of money, lest we forget.

For the bloodthirsty in the audience, Woods admitted to everything. He didn't name names, of course, or address every incident in graphic detail. He didn't need to. He acknowledged that the "transgressions" happened, and he acknowledged giving in to temptation. Repeatedly.

He took appropriate swipes at the media which indefensibly followed his family and made his life a fishbowl hell the last three months. One hopes he'll be able to distinguish between bottom-feeding scandalmongers and the media honestly interested in relating the truth of his journey back to the top of the golf world, but it would be understandable if he's a little leery of the media for, oh, the next two decades.

Bottom line: Tiger said all the right things. And people are willing to forgive him, willing to welcome him back. But now comes the hard part -- following through. The temptations aren't going away, the opportunities to stray will always exist. And now Tiger will live his life under the kind of microscope that he's tried so hard to avoid. Facing a 12-foot putt to win the Masters is nothing compared to the pressure he'll be facing now.

Still, America is a land of second chances. Woods has done the amazing before, but if he can salvage his shattered reputation after this, that'll be his greatest achievement of all.

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On the 84th day, Tiger Woods finally spoke. He let the world know that he is sorry for what happened, that he will continue to get help for his addiction and that he will not be playing golf anytime soon.

Tiger gave us what appeared to be a previously outlined statement from his PR team, finishing with a plea for people to "believe in me again." His first message was that of sorrow, but the 14-minute statement turned heated when Tiger spoke of rumors that his wife Elin had chased and/or hit him with a golf club: 

"There is one issue I really want to discuss. Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever."

Tiger's mom, Tim Finchem and fellow PGA Tour player and former Stanford teammate Notah Begay III were in attendance, but Elin was not. That didn't stop Tiger from speaking about her most of the time.

Tiger admitted that he is the only one to blame, admitting, "I was unfaithful." He also apologized to his family, friends and fans, and said he thought he played by different rules because of money and fame, but agrees that those "actions were wrong."

Tiger admitted "he has a long way to go," but he is taking steps in the right direction, and said that no matter what people want to know about his marriage, it is going to stay within the family. "Please leave my wife and kids alone," Tiger stated.

As for golf, Tiger said that he will return to golf one day, he just doesn't know when that day will be. He also didn't rule out returning in 2010, but no date was promised. 

All in all it was the statement we expected -- preempted, selective and, in typical Tiger fashion, guarded. Nobody will ever know if Tiger has changed, but it sure sounds like he meant it.

Watch Tiger apologizing (courtesy of ABC News):

Watch Tiger deny allegations of domestic violence (courtesy of ABC News):

Watch Tiger's closing remarks (courtesy of ABC News):

More from Tiger Woods' big announcement:
• Column: Let the Tiger judging begin
• Blog post: Can Tiger be believed?
• Read Tiger's full statement

When news hit on Wednesday that Tiger Woods would be holding a press conference on Friday at 11 AM ET, we all knew that the Accenture Match Play, the actual golf event taking place at the time, would lose some appeal in the golf world. The problem is, the golfers playing this week have done everything possible to make it as unimportant as possible.

Just two days into the Accenture, all the top seeds are out, including Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Okay, but that isn't a huge hit. Two popular Americans and then two decent draws from Europe." Along with those four, Geoff Ogilvy is out. So is Anthony Kim, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson and a list of other names that might make this tournament must-see television come the weekend.

To be honest, the Accenture currently has two hopeful storylines they could bank on coming out of the Tiger presser -- Ryo Ishikawa, who at 18 is still searching for that first PGA Tour victory, actually winning an event of this magnitude. If he continues to play well, this could become a serious golf story on Sunday.

The only other one that would be helpful to the actual PGA Tour (you know, the guys that play golf and try to make paychecks and don't hold fake press conferences) is if Sergio Garcia kept winning and picked up his first trophy since that playoff victory in 2008 at the Players.

Other than that, this thing is heading towards "bad match play television," which seems to happen every few years. Match play is great when the final two are Phil Mickelson versus Tiger. You lose when it is Jeev Milkha Singh versus Ben Crane.