pat o'brien, you know him, you have interviewed him. how surprised were you? >> i was surprised, larry, i think in this day and age, nobody goes undefeated. and that includes tiger woods, i think he's a victim of his own image. the one that he set up for himself. i'm a little more surprised that it's getting as much or more coverage than the 30,000 men and women we're sending to bar from the speech of obama the other night. you know what which he pointed out in the statement that was five days later, he's human. these things happen. >> larry: was it too late, howard? >> it was too late. it was the second statement. and i think there's a better way to do it than another statement. i think people wanted to hear tiger. people like tiger. they want to hear him -- >> larry: he should have done what, radio? >> he should have called you literally on the air. somebody he was comfortable. he didn't have to do the face. he could have said i'm home healing, my doctor doesn't want me to leave but i want people to know. >> larry: it would have helped a lot. >> absolutely.

on phone is an old friend and colleague, a great broadcaster pat o'brien. who has interviewed tiger many times. pat, what's your take on these latest developments. tiger saying he's giving up golf indefinitely to focus on repairing his private life. >> yeah, i think it's good news for phil mickelson. that's about where it stops. it's terrible news for television -- first of all, let's not forget what he's got to do at home and take care of his family and himself. take care of himself and his family. in terms of the business world, the golf world, it's a disaster. the eight months he was off with his injuries, television ratings went down 50%. people are going to lose jobs. advertising revenue goes down. it's not golf. to be honest with you, it's not golf without tiger. >> jim: do you think his sponsors will stick with him in the long run? >> in the long run, anything's possible by the way. this country loves a comeback. someone who's contrite and comes forward. in the long run, fine. short term, probably not so fine. we're seeing people taking his face off o