Buzz surrounding Tiger Woods’ missing tooth won’t go away

It might be a few more days before the questions surrounding Tiger Woods and his missing tooth are finally put to rest.

Woods is expected to meet with reporters before making his season debut at the Phoenix Open next week, at which point he will almost certainly be asked about what happened to his mouth in Italy on Monday.

That was the day he made a surprise visit to watch girlfriend Lindsey Vonn win her record 63rd World Cup race and was photographed with a conspicuous gap in his smile. His agent, Mark Steinberg, told the Associated Press that the golfer was accidentally struck by a cameraman during the awards ceremony.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. A race official subsequently contradicted Steinberg’s account.

“I was among those who escorted [Woods] from the tent to the snowmobile, and there was no such incident,” Nicola Colli, the secretary general of the race organizing committee, told the Associated Press. “When he arrived he asked for more security, and we rounded up police to look after both him and Lindsey.”

Vonn responded with a Facebook post saying she felt terrible about Woods being smacked by the cameraman.

“He was still in great spirits though and didn’t complain once or ask for any special assistance or security,” she wrote.

The field in Phoenix is also expected to include Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley and Bubba Watson.