TMZ Sports - Page 50

Tiger's statement is set to take place on critical day three of the Accenture Match Play -- Accenture happens to be one of the first sponsors to drop Woods after Tiger admitted to messing around behind his wife's back.

And now, Ernie Els -- who was pretty friendly with Tiger before the scandal -- has lashed out at Woods in an interview with GolfWeek.com saying, "It's selfish ... You can write that. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

Els added, "I feel sorry for the sponsor."

Another one of Tiger's competitor's -- Sergio Garcia -- also weighed in, saying "Timing-wise, it's not the best."

Tiger's event is currently set for Friday at 11 AM EST -- he won't be taking any questions.

We got this photo, taken earlier today, of Tiger jogging near his home in Florida.

He's wearing his Nike shirt and shorts -- important because Nike stuck by him.

Tiger is not wearing a wedding ring.

We're told Tiger had a team of security around him as he hit balls. Helicopters started flying over the area and Tiger beat a hasty retreat.

Tiger's kids are at the house with the nanny. Elin Nordegren showed up with her sister earlier in the day.

As we first reported, a Tiger employee told us Tiger would play at Tavistock ... a PGA sponsored tourney in March.

We should know a lot more about Tiger's golf plans -- and the Masters -- on Friday.

Several major online gambling sites have marked Tiger as the odds-on favorite to win the Masters, which takes place in April.

According to Sportsbook.com, Tiger is currently listed at +250 -- which means a $10 bet pays $25.

The next closest competitor is Phil Mickelson, who is listed at +700. The odds on anyone else winning the tourney is at least +1000.

For the record -- Tiger has not made any public announcement regarding his future golf plans ... and hasn't played competitive golf since November.

The PGA Tour's website just posted that Tiger Woods will speak publicly at the PGA Tour Headquarters on Friday at 11:00 AM ET.

The PGA typically announces on Fridays who will play in the following week's tournament.

According to Tiger's agent, Mark Steinberg, Tiger plans to apologize for his behavior and discuss his plans for the future. Woods will be speaking with a small group of his friends and colleagues during the news conference.

Steinberg said no one will be able to ask questions during the news conference. There is a report out that Tiger will read a prepared statement.

And this is interesting ... the news conference will take place during the Accenture Match Play Championship -- one of the sponsors that dropped him in the wake of the sex scandal.

Steinberg said, "This is all about the next step. He's looking forward to it."

Story developing

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was popped for DUI earlier this month in Scottsdale, Arizona -- after cops allegedly clocked him going way, way over the speed limit in a badass black Ferrari.

According to the police report, Khabibulin -- who reportedly signed a 4-year, $15 million deal with the Oilers last year -- was initially pulled over around midnight on February 8 for going 70 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.

In the report, cops say when they asked the 37-year-old how fast he was going, he said "80" ... and later admitted to drinking "one glass of wine."

Take a look at the white Cadillac Escalade in the driveway of the family's home in Isleworth where we're told Tiger is now living. We're told Elin, who has rented a house nearby, took the Escalade to the house this morning and parked it in the driveway.

Interesting ... before driving over Elin dropped their daughter off at school, bought two cups of coffee at a nearby Starbucks and then went to Tiger's.

UPDATE: Elin's twin sister Josefin was seen riding with her on the way to Tiger's house.

It seems that it's all over an incident from last off-season when Carson's wife wouldn't let Ochocinco stay at their home after she gave birth to twins. Last night Chad told us, "Tell Carson let me babysit those twins ... then I'll talk to him."

We're not really sure if the Cincinnati Bengals star was jokin' or not -- but he looked pretty damn serious when he told us how badly he wants fellow NFL receiver Terrell Owens to join his squad ... even insisting he'd take a pay cut to get T.O. in stripes.

Just days after Candi agreed to drop her request for a protective order against Evander, the two issued a joint statement saying, "We are in agreement that we both are moving forward to reach out to meet with Dr. Phil one-on-one as we believe he is the one who can help us at this time."

The couple added, "We each admire and respect Dr. Phil for his down to earth and heartfelt approach in working with couples and relationships in a positive and uplifting way."

We've learned Tila and Shawne have settled the lawsuits they filed against each other. Tila filed her lawsuit back in November for assault, battery, false imprisonment and emotional distress ... in other words a normal day.

Tila claimed the NFL star grabbed her, choked her, and threw her down during an alleged altercation in September.

Shawne sued Tila for intentional interference with a contract, because he claimed her allegations torpedoed a business deal he had to produce T-shirts for Walmart.

Tiger Woods went from his home in Isleworth, Florida yesterday to the bungalow he owns in the same gated community for a meeting with officials from the Tavistock Cup to talk about his next tournament, sources tell TMZ.

The meeting took place midday. Tiger was escorted by security to the bungalow, which is adjacent to the clubhouse.

As we first reported, a source who works for Tiger Woods told TMZ Tiger planned to play at Tavistock in March -- a PGA event between the golf pros at Isleworth and the neighboring Lake Nona pros.

Yesterday's meeting lasted an hour. Tiger then returned to the main house.

Our sources say after Tavistock, Tiger plans to go to Augusta, Georgia for the Masters.

Evander Holyfield's wife is throwing in the towel in the war against the former boxing champ -- asking a judge to drop the protective order she obtained against him earlier this month.

According to court officials in Fayette County, GA, Candi Holyfield pulled the plug on the order yesterday.

Candi had accused Evander of hitting her in the face, the back, and the back of her head after she complained that their children were cold because the heat had been cut off in their Georgia home.

In Candi's petition for the protective order, she also claimed Evander had been physical with her in the past -- saying he "choked me in front of our daughter and housekeeper" in 2008.

As TMZ previously reported, Walker was robbed and beat down back in June '08 after some bad guys targeted the NFL star after he was in a champagne spraying play fight in a nightclub ... while wearing a ridiculously expensive watch.

This time, Walker kept a low profile, quietly sipping on a beverage with his pal Bow Wow at Vanity at the Hard Rock Hotel -- while wearing a much more subtle timepiece.

VY was spotted leaving a nightclub early Sunday morning when he stumbled upon a pole and decided to use it for support -- before swinging around it while Johnson and another friend passed him back and forth.

Kobe Bryant chose not to mix with scantily-clad women last night, and the night club that threw the shindig he was scheduled to host is pissed.

As we first reported, Bryant was splashed all over a poster promoting a party at Bacy's and sponsored by a magazine that features barely-clothed women.

Bryant, who you may remember had a little problem in Colorado a few years back, has done such a good job of rehabilitating his image -- the whole thing was a conundrum.

Kobe would never comment on the hosting gig, but the club insisted it had a signed contract. But when we arrived last night, there were signs posted saying Kobe would not be appearing ... the promoter and the patrons were none too pleased.

The sign read: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mr. Kobe Bryant will not be in attendance tonight. No refund beyond this point."

BTW -- the photo above shows Bryant sitting courtside at the Slam Dunk contest in Dallas last night.