Fake topless pictures have taken us to Elin back, insists furious Tiger

Two days before the start of the match at the K Club west of Dublin Woods asked to speak to the media about some fake porn pictures that had appeared in a local magazine.

Former bikini model Elin, 26, was said to be "upset" and "embarrassed" and Woods said: "You do things for the people you love and you care about. My father got ridiculed for years and I always felt for my father and my mother the same way.

"My wife, we're in it together, we're a team and we do things as a team and I care about her with all my heart. (There are) things that have occurred over here that I'm very disappointed about. Not the fans, not the people here, not the Irish people, but how the article was written.

"Yes, she has been a model prior and she did some bikini photos. But to link her to porn websites and such is unacceptable and I do not accept that at all. Neither does our team.

"I just want to say that that doesn't deter or detract from the beauty of the event. The people have been absolutely fantastic. Irish people have come out and supported us.

"I know the media can be a little bit difficult at times but it's hard to be very diplomatic about this when you have so much emotion involved, when my wife is involved like this.

"I just hope that it was the right thing to do. I've come here numerous years to fish and hang out and play golf and tour all of Ireland and people here have been absolutely fantastic.

"The same for this week. All of the Europeans that have come and supported the European side have been so gracious to us. It's just 'don't let the facts get in the way of a good story' and sometimes that happens. I think this was a clear incidence of that."

Woods has insisted that his wife, daughter of a Swedish government minster, has never posed naked. The pictures apparently show her head superimposed on the body of another woman. The American is thought to be considering legal action.

The world number one should have been playing when he was speaking, but all plans changed when rain and winds gusting to over 40mph caused early morning headaches for police and organisers of the match.

Spectators and "non-essential" workers were kept out of the K Club until 10am while safety checks were made, with buses to the course being halted and the park-and-ride system suspended.

Conditions did ease sufficiently for the fans to see the players practising,but it was not the full day's action many had hoped for - and there is a forecast of more bad weather to come. The possibility of the match spilling into Monday has not been ruled out.