Woman claims no affair with Woods

>>> back at 8:09 with more on that car accident involving tiger woods . the woman who one tabloid claims had an affair with the golfer is now vehemently denying that, as woods backs out of his own golf tournament . nbc's mark potter is in windermere, florida, where tiger woods lives. mark, good morning, again.

>> reporter: and good morning, again, to you, meredith. while tiger woods has not been speaking publicly about the incident, he did issue a statement yesterday on his website, which is very disappointing to golf fans. that statement said, and i quote, "due to injuries sustained in a one- car accident last week, tiger woods will be unable to play in the 2009 chevron world challenge ." now, that's a charity golf tournament that woods was to host later this week in california. on the website, he said he was disappointed that he will not be able to be there. also, a long-scheduled news conference for today has been canceled. now, as for the investigation, the florida highway patrol says it continues, but with little help from tiger woods himself. he is refusing to speak with accident investigators, something that he is not required by law to do. legal analysts say that's actually a pretty smart move on the part of his attorney, but others have criticized tiger woods for his handling of the incident, his public handling of the incident in which he has offered very few details. meredith?

>> all right, mark potter , thank you very much. we are joined now by cnbc's sports business reporter, darren rovell, and msnbc's courtney hazlett. courtney , let me start with you. for the first time, rachel uchitel, the woman accused of having an affair with tiger woods , is speaking out, saying "it's a ridiculous story." she goes on to say "i work in clubs, i'm a businesswoman, i do not have sex with celebrities. i have not had an affair with tiger woods ." what can you tell us about this woman?

>> she works in an environment where she is often rubbing elbows with celebrities. she's a vip hostess, which means when a celebrity wants to come into a club, her cell phone rings and she is there to meet them outside the door, usher them inside, make sure they're not bothered, they're catered to, their every whim, essentially. so, she does get into situations where if somebody who she doesn't trust wanted to say something to another media outlet, there are things that happened that might look bad on paper, you might say. she gets into very close circumstances, and that's what she's saying here. listen, i just had a job to do, i had to usher tiger in through this club, that was our interaction. these salacious things you're hearing are not true and not from credible sources.

>> yeah. she says she is not friends with the girls who reportedly told the tabloids she was having an affair with tiger woods . so, how does she explain their knowledge of her interaction with woods?

>> she says it's blown out of proportion, that she did not text message him. there were allegations at the beginning of these sexting messages between her and tiger. she says there are no text messages , i never spoke to him on the phone, there is no affair. however, it takes her the entire statement, which is hundreds of words long, to get to that concise denial. so a lot of people say you're protesting a lot here, rachel.

>> but there's no evidence about text --

>> no evidence, but "the national enquirer " and "star" magazine did have enough to print this story. these are two publications who do vet all their stories legally and a fair lawyer said there is enough here that we feel protected. they're going to move forward.

>> so, obviously, you don't think she's cleared up these rumors or put them to rest?

>> i think the most important thing you can do in these circumstances is just say it's not true, put a period at the end of the sentence and move on, if that's the case.

>> you're smiling.

>> and when you keep on talking it makes it worse.

>> courtney makes a good point, because with tiger's statement, all these people have said it is not enough. people who know tiger woods cannot believe that this thing was four or five paragraphs, cannot believe he said the statement "my wife acted courageously," cannot believe that he said "it will never happen again" or "i'm not perfect."

>> and you're surprised he said as much as he did.

>> yes.

>> a lot of people are criticizing him for not saying enough.

>> now remember, he's still -- he doesn't have to cooperate and he's not, but there is still a police investigation. the fact that he is able to say or wants to say "my wife acted courageously," the police are going to try to find out if that is true. so, knowing tiger's inner circle , how he works, i was surprised that it was as large as it was.

>> well, he has not gone public. he's made this statement on the internet, his website, but hasn't gone public. what do you think is going on right now in his inner circle ?

>> his inner circle , just to give you an idea, is as tight as any inner circle -- definitely in sports, it is number one. you can write the people who know tiger woods , know him, can call him on a single, one-sided sheet of paper. i would put that up against any other list in hollywood. as far as what his team is considering, it's considering what any team considers in a crisis, which is, what is possibly out there that we do not know that we might have to respond to? i don't think there was any question he was not going to show up at his own tournament. he's not going to go and open himself up to any reporters' questions.

>> that said, getting back out on the golf course and reminding people why he's famous and doing well could be the best thing he could possibly do here. he's got a job to do, and that's to be a professional golfer. canceling this tournament, now it looks like the first time he's going to make a professional golf appearance is going to be in january in san diego , and that's a long time for this to simmer and other people to start talking.

>> do you think that the sponsors -- i mean, this man has a lot of endorsement deals -- do you think the sponsors are nervous now?

>> right now a lot of sponsors have come out with statements -- nike, gillette. they're fine. you know, and i think they're going to be fine.

>> so, his brand is safe.

>> yeah, his brand is safe. this is minor, considering the other things that have happened to other celebrities. the big thing is golf. if this somehow affects his zen focus with millions of dollars on the line, with who tiger woods is, if this somehow gets into his head and he's not as good of a golfer, that's a problem for nike golf. if he can't win -- in 2010 , if he can't win a single tournament after doing what he did this past year, and since 1996 , that's more of a problem for his sponsors.