Woods has announced he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf after admitting to “infidelities”.

Federer is one of the few to speak to Woods since the media furore over the American’s private life erupted.

“I wish him all the best getting back, hopefully on the golf course, resolving his problems,” said the 28-year-old.

The 15-time Grand Slam winner, who has appeared with his friend Woods in TV commercials, refused to be drawn further on the scandal surrounding the American, saying he had only followed events “from afar”.

Woods’s personal life hit the headlines last November when he crashed a car into a tree outside his Florida home.

After weeks of press speculation, the 14-times golf major winner then released a statement on his website admitting to “infidelity” and has not been seen in public since the car accident.

Federer said he did not feel any added pressure to lead an unblemished life, revealing it was important for him to uphold the principles of fair play, respect for the game and his rivals.

“I just try to be myself, not change for the press or the public or the fans,” he added.

“If they like me, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s too bad.

“Sure, I’m doing a lot of press conferences, and not being able to hide on the tennis court is not an easy thing sometimes. But I think I’ve done well over the years.”

Woods has lost a number of endorsements since the infamous car crash, with Gillette announcing on 12 December that it would limit Woods’s role in its marketing while the champion took time off to deal with his personal life.

Two days later the giant management consultancy firm Accenture ended its sponsorship with Woods, saying the golfer was “no longer the right representative”.

Telecoms giant AT&T and the watchmaker Tag Heuer have scaled down its use of the star, while drinks manufacturer Gatorade discontinued a line of Tiger Woods-branded energy drinks.

A recent University of California study suggested the total economic damage of the Woods incident to all involved parties could amount to as much as $12bn.

In an interview published on Friday by French sports daily L’Equipe, Federer said Woods “needs calm”.

“The tabloids are going crazy, sponsor contracts are falling apart … I’ve always been aware that the image you patiently construct for an entire career can be ruined in a minute,” stated Federer.

“It scares you a bit, but that’s the way things are.

“Tiger needs calm. And soon he’ll become the wonderful golfer that we know again.”

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Cook and Browne shot 6-under 66s at Del Monte Golf Course on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational. Cook, coming off a win Nov. 1 in the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, had six birdies in his bogey-free round.

Browne, who won the Pebble Beach Invitational in 2001, opened with an eagle, shot 31 on the front nine and had four birdies while playing one group ahead of Cook.

Bettencourt, who was raised in Modesto but lives in South Carolina and was 10th in the U.S. Open, shot a 67 at Del Monte to trail by one.

• LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP, at Richmond, Texas — Michelle Wie is gone, putting all the attention on Lorena Ochoa’s player of the year fight with Jiyai Shin at the LPGA Tour Championship. Wie withdrew from the season-ending event Thursday because of a sprained ankle. Ochoa shot a 6-under 66 to take a 1-shot lead over Reilley Rankin.

Wie, 20, was fresh off her first LPGA Tour win last week at Ochoa’s tournament in Mexico. Drawing the largest galleries, she limped through her round of 72 on a gimpy ankle that she originally sprained at the Solheim Cup in August. She was treated but withdrew an hour later.

Ochoa teed off before the wind picked up at the Houstonian Golf and Country Club. She was four shots ahead of Shin (70), but the 21-year-old South Korean leads Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the race to become the tour’s player of the year.

Shin and Ochoa started on the back nine and both were 2 under after three holes. Shin added birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 to move to 4 under. Both bogeyed the 17th, then picked up birdies early on their second nines. Ochoa added birdies on Nos. 6, 8 and 9, capping her round with a 15-foot putt and a fist pump.

• DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, at United Arab Emirates — Robert Allenby of Australia shot a 7-under 65 for a 1-shot lead after the first round while Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy vied for the European Tour money title. Allenby had eight birdies and only one bogey on the Earth Course, which is hosting the $7.5 million final event of the European Tour season. He was one shot ahead of Westwood, Chris Wood and Camilo Villegas, who all shot 66.

• TOUR SCHOOL, at Scottsdale, Ariz. — Steve Haskins shot his second straight 6-under 65 to take a 4-stroke lead over Ronnie Black after the third round of the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament. The 51-year-old son of late Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, he had a 17-under 199 total.

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As the golfers compete for thousands of dollars in prize money on the course, behind the scenes, thousands of dollars are being raised for local charities; nearly $1.4 billion since 1938. Tournament by tournament, week by week, funds flow into mostly local charities. At the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, however, the set-up is a little different. At this tournament, played on two courses at the Walt Disney World resort outside Orlando, the sponsor is the charity.

Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, says he knows why a charitable foundation hoping to raise money would pay money to attach its name to a sporting event. “They’re receiving a lot of publicity. They’re on Golf Channel for four days, it’s distributed into 200 countries around the world.”

Money well spent

George points to the value of that attention in raising appreciation – among donors and the general public – of what the Children’s Miracle Network does. “It’s a different model [of fund-raising], but it’s one that brings them a tremendous amount of brand awareness, charitable awareness, for the work that they do.”

Craig Sorenson, Chief Marketing Officer for the Children’s Miracle Network, agrees. He says the benefits of the three-year partnership with Disney and the PGA Tour have more than compensated for the cost of sponsorship. “No children’s cause helps more kids than children’s hospitals. Every year, our children’s hospitals that we work with help more than 17-million kids. And so the tournament helps us spread that awareness.”

Sponsoring the event also allows the foundation to invite their corporate partners that raise funds for it to attend. It also gives provides an opportunity to attract and identify potential new partners. “So while the golf tournament isn’t the only thing we do,” Sorenson explains, “the Classic is one of those things that helps us build our brand and build awareness for our cause.”

Raising money and spirits

Each year, some of the kids who’ve been helped by Children’s Miracle Network hospitals have the chance to mingle or even play with the professionals during the Pro-Am portion of the tournament.

Four years ago, then-10-year-old Nathan Reich was paralyzed after being struck in the head by an errant golf ball. But after undergoing extensive therapy in a children’s hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, he’s excited about playing with the pros at this event.

Speaking to reporters before the tournament, Nathan had an inspirational message for other kids: “never give up, anything is possible, you can do anything you want.”

The Children’s Miracle Network began as a telethon in the early 1980’s, and has grown to include thousands of local and national fund-raising events for 170 children’s hospitals in North America. Officials expect to raise over $240 million this year, and the international attention garnered by this high-profile golf tournament has an important part to play in achieving that goal.

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