SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sure, a lot of people would like to be Tiger Woods.
But a California lawsuit charges Anthony Taylor with going a little too far — masquerading as Woods in a complex case of identity theft where he used the golf star's name and Social Security number to buy a treasure trove of televisions, stereos and other goods.
Woods, testifying in Sacramento Monday, said he had never been a customer at the video rental outlet, furniture store and electronics warehouses where Taylor allegedly went on his $17,000 shopping spree.
"I hate shopping," the Sacramento Bee quoted Woods as saying in a courthouse appearance kept largely secret from the media. "I have never liked it. I don't like picking out things. I'd rather go play (golf)."
Woods was the opening witness against Taylor, who has been charged with six felony counts of identity theft and perjury. Woods' lawyers say Taylor appropriated the name "Eldrick T. Woods" — Tiger's full name — and used it on a driver's license and numerous credit applications.
Woods, who turns 25 on Dec. 30, is one of the world's richest men and has made an estimated $45 million in endorsements this year alone. Earlier this month he was named "the most powerful person in sports" by Sporting News magazine.
But his lawsuit claims that Taylor was nevertheless able to pass himself off as Woods repeatedly between August 1998 and August 1999, doing everything from renting movies at a video store to putting a $100 downpayment on a used Lexus.
Taylor's lawyer, James Greiner, said that idea seemed far-fetched. In his opening arguments Monday, Greiner sought to persuade the jury that his client could never have pulled off the Tiger Woods identity heist, the Bee reported.
"Does he just walk into Circuit City?" Greiner said. "What they're saying is Anthony Taylor, my client, walks in and says, 'Hey, I'm Eldrick Tiger Woods.' . . . Nobody around, nobody helping him. 'I want to buy some furniture. I want to buy a TV.' "
Woods, under cross-examination, said he sometimes did visit electronics super stores like Circuit City without an entourage. But he said he always pays cash for purchases rather than filling out credit applications and has never visited the stores Taylor allegedly patronized in the Sacramento area.