You most likely have heard about Tiger Woods’ arrest on DUI charges early Monday morning. It’s another setback in Woods’ personal life. And you’ve probably seen the mugshot that’s been cirulated across the internet throughout the day.

However, in a strange case of editorial judgment, ESPN elected to photoshop the mugshot in reporting on Woods’ arrest.

UPDATE: ESPN has issued the following statement on the photoshop:

We have utilized a standard template for on-air headshots, which led to the background being dropped for consistency. We will revisit this process to improve it going forward.

Golf journalist Geoff Shakelford noticed the difference in mugshots and tweeted it out:

You can notice immediately that instead of messy hair at the top of Woods’ head, someone at ESPN decided to clean it up so it can it in the “Breaking News” banner. Why this decision was made is unknown, but even more bizarre is that it showed the real mugshot next to the photoshopped version.

And it led to reaction like this:

That is the question. Why would ESPN elect to smooth out Woods’ hair? It’s very strange.

[Geoff Shakelford Twitter]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.