Woods Skips Christening, U.S. Media Skips The Story

I missed this story last week while traveling but I'm not sure what excuse the golf press has for not reporting it. Here it is, first reported (in English) by Marcus Oscarsson in the Times:

The golfer Tiger Woods has missed the baptism in Sweden of his three-month-old daughter, Sam, according to Swedish media reports.

Woods is married to the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, whose family turned out in force for the christening ceremony in Stockholm yesterday. But one source close to the family said: "“Everybody was very surprised over the fact that Tiger did not show up.”

This Daily Express story explored things a bit more:

While the traditional christening was important to Elin and her family, insiders said Woods’s Buddhist beliefs meant the ceremony was less of a priority.

However, photos of Woods, 31, posing with his arms around Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher at the fund-raiser 6,000 miles away merely fuelled gossip. One columnist wrote: “Hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner?

“Couldn’t he and Elin, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen TV ads – then had their daughter baptised?”

Elin’s Swedish relatives were reportedly “very surprised” her husband was not there.

After flying into Stockholm on a private jet, Elin, 27, and baby Sam Alexis Woods were picked up by the model’s twin sister Josefin and the baby was christened in a specially decorated gymnasium. Meanwhile, last Saturday’s Tiger Woods Block Party in California raised £500,000 for a school learning programme.

A friend said Woods was “in great spirits”, adding: “He was the life and soul of the party. We had no idea his baby was being christened on the same weekend.”

Allan Maki in the Globe and Mail was the only writer to question Tiger's decision:

But hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner? Couldn’t he and his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen new TV ads – then had their three-month-old daughter baptized?

Now, I could care less what Tiger does or does not do with his spare time. And frankly, I can't say I blame him for skipping a baptism in a gymnasium halfway around the globe.

But considering that way too many questions asked of Tiger this year in press conferences were schmaltzy, lame and mindless softballs revolving around the birth of his daughter, resulting in countless "fatherhood will make him a more complete man" columns, shouldn't some of the scribblers who peddled that at least report this?