"Not everybody is going to say, 'Go Tiger,' " golfer Notah Begay says when asked how galleries will react to Woods's eventual return to the sport. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods suddenly appeared through a door-sized gap in the blue curtains as the room fell silent. He had been out of the public's eye for three months. Fifteen minutes later, he was gone again.

Essentially, what happened Friday was that the golf world's No. 1 player was seen and heard — in tightly controlled circumstances — at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

The next big step comes when Woods gets back to golf, a landscape he once dominated but may no longer control.

The sport's biggest star spoke before a crowd of 40 family, friends, colleagues and close associates, most of whom he had not seen since the Nov. 27 car accident that exposed the dirty side of a squeaky-clean image with sordid tales of sex.

What kind of support will Woods get?

Ernie Els was among those furious that Woods chose the Friday of the Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., to speak — Accenture was the first sponsor to drop him — although that was before he knew Woods had a one-week break from therapy — reportedly for sex addiction — and was going back.

Players are no different from the public. They either like Woods and hope for the best, or don't think much of him and will delight in his failures. The former outnumber the latter by a large margin.

"For me, it's water under the bridge," Sergio Garcia said. "I'm just looking forward to having him back on tour. I'm actually excited to see him back. So it's good to see that he's doing well and hopefully he gets everything sorted out."

'There's going to be some criticism, things he's not used to hearing.' — Notah Begay on Woods's eventual return to PGA Tour

Woods has many friends on the PGA Tour, but he is close to hardly any of them. One exception is Notah Begay, who withdrew from the PGA Tour event in Mexico to be at TPC Sawgrass.

Begay compared Woods's delivery — measured, uncomfortable — to when Woods spoke before a private gathering at his father's memorial service in May 2006. "This is as emotional as I've ever seen him in public," said Begay, Woods's teammate at Stanford.

Looking forward, he believes Woods will find a reception like never before on the PGA Tour.

"There will be a mixture of cheers and boos," Begay said. "Not everybody is going to say, 'Go Tiger.' There's going to be some criticism, things he's not used to hearing. And he understands that it's his fault."

The tour has rarely dealt with so much anger directed at one of its players — there was some heckling of Vijay Singh for saying he hoped Annika Sorenstam missed the cut at the Colonial, and at Bethpage in the 2002 U.S. Open when Garcia saluted the fans with his middle finger after they made fun of his pre-shot routine.

Woods's star power dwarfs the rest of golf, however, and the nature of his sins make him an easy target.

"It's going to be a big deal when he comes back out and resumes his career," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "But we can be reasonably prepared for that on short notice."

Finchem is hopeful that notice comes soon, although no one knows when Woods will play golf again. There were apologies and confessions in his 13½-minute speech, just not much information.

The commissioner was far more optimistic about whether Woods can succeed.

"If there's anything about Tiger Woods that's been evident over the last 14 years, it's that when he sets his mind to do something and he brings the attention and focus that he can to do something, he's been successful," Finchem said.

"And certainly, that includes improvement in almost every area, whether it's his game, his business acumen, his presentation, his ability to talk on his feet."

Woods actually has proven to be somewhat clumsy in spontaneous speech. That time is coming, and it will be another big step. Only then will it be known if it's a step forward or back.