As a frustrated hacker – that’s a golfer for you non-linksters – there are any number of times when I would love to walk in Tiger Woods’ shoes for just five minutes.

This weekend was not one of them.

The greatest golfer – and perhaps most recognizable athlete – on the planet has been in the headlines all weekend. But not for his incredible feats on the golf course. Instead, he’s all over the news for something that happened in his driveway.

Woods was involved in a minor car crash. That’s the last time anything about this story was minor. It has exploded into national headlines and become fodder for the tabloids.

Questions are being asked about Woods’ private life, about his marriage and about the circumstances that led him to leave his exclusive Florida mansion at 2:20 in the morning.

So far Woods has declined to speak to police. Yesterday he released a statement on his Web site, saying that the accident in which he plowed over a fire hydrant and than slammed into a tree was “his fault.” He admitted it was very embarrassing to his family, but that he preferred to keep the rest of the story private.

We’ll see how that goes. Tiger Woods has managed to make the miraculous seem mundane on the golf course. His fans show up, and tune in, to see him do something that no one thought was possible.

Seeing him extricate himself from this public relations nightmare might just be his biggest challenge yet.

But Tiger can’t fend off this situation with a driver, or his magical putter.

Instead he likely will have to lay bare part of his personal life, something he seems bound and determined not to do.

This story, the way it’s covered and the way people talk about it, tells us much about us as a society, the way we treat our sports heroes and celebrities, and about the industry I toil in every day.

Tiger Woods was involved in a minor car crash. Early reports that he had been “seriously” injured proved unfounded. He was treated and released from the hospital.

But that’s only what appears on the surface of this story. It’s what is underneath that we crave.

Tiger Woods believes he can keep that part of his life – and this story – away from everyone, even the police.

I’ll never hit a drive quite like the cannon shots Tiger Woods routinely delivers.

Hopefully, I’ll also never take a drive quite like the one Tiger took in his drivway the other night.

For once, I’m glad I’m not in Tiger Woods’ shoes.