Toothless Tiger…err literally!

Tiger Woods wanted to surprise his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn but it turns out he surprised…err shocked a whole lot of others. Woods wore a skeleton mask to cover his face Monday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy and when he pulled it down, he was missing a tooth. This triggered a heat wave of camera clicks in an otherwise freezing ski resort, who got more than just the real story to report on. Vonn’s stellar record-breaking 63rd Alpine racing win was somewhat overcast by a toothless Tiger.

An NYTimes report said that Tiger’s agent clarified on the situation.

Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports, explained the missing tooth in an email. He says during a crush of photographers at the awards podium, a media member with a shoulder-mounted video surged toward the stage, turned and hit Woods in the mouth. That’s what knocked out the tooth.

He did not say when Woods would have it replaced. Golf’s biggest star returns to competition next week in Phoenix, and his smile is sure to produce a stream of shutters from the cameras.

Vonn was elated as she shared with the press, “I didn’t think this could get any better than yesterday with my entire family here but now with Tiger here this is unbelievable,” Vonn said. “I said, ‘I can’t believe you came.’ And he said, ‘I told you.’”

But despite this feat, headline writers and photographers plastered the press with some witty liners.

So while Vonn got her stellar record-breaking 63rd Alpine racing win, Woods barely cracked a smile and yet made all the headlines. Hmph.