Daly offers Woods support

Daly, a dual major winner affectionately known as 'Wild Thing', said the sport badly needed Woods and was relieved that the peerless world number one was okay and not badly hurt.

"Tiger's the biggest asset the tour's had in a long, long time," Daly said ahead of this week's Australian Open here where he is the leading overseas drawcard.

"Whatever happened, as long as he's okay that's all that matters. Golf needs him badly... no doubt." Daly, a four-time divorcee and much-publicised hell-raiser, managed to hide his bemusement at discussing someone else's private life - and could shed no light on the out-of-character episode.

"I don't really care what happened between Tiger and... whatever happened. I'm just glad he's okay," he told reporters.

"We need him probably more than anybody on the tour to keep things going, the way the economy is."

Woods, the 14-time major winner, has taken responsibility for an "embarrassing" late-night car crash, but declined to tell his story to police even as he lashed out at "unfounded and malicious rumours."

Woods, 33, posted a statement on his website Sunday saying he was solely responsible for the accident outside his Florida home, which left him with facial cuts, some bruises and a welter of unwelcome publicity.

Leading the speculation, the celebrity news website TMZ.com reported that a dispute between Woods and his wife, former Swedish model Elin Nordegren, was at the centre of the incident.