“I know everyone has a job to do, and I get it,’’ Foley said this week on XM Sirius radio. “But if it is about the game of golf, Tiger Woods is an extremely important part of the game, and I think everyone understands that. It has just gotten to the point where the tearing down of Tiger as a person and a golfer has become just too much. I think it is just out of hand.’’

Woods has been under more scrutiny than any other golfer since he turned pro in 1996. The criticism has sharpened in the two years since Woods was exposed for extramarital affairs that cost him his marriage and impeccable image.

Woods tied for 40th at the Masters, yet most of the attention was on how he kicked his club after missing a tee shot on the 16th hole of the second round. He said the next day, “I’m frustrated at times and I apologize if I offended anybody that that.’’

Foley began working with Woods at the 2010 PGA Championship, and Woods has shown signs of getting back toward the top of his game. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last month for his first PGA Tour win since the scandal in his personal life unfolded the night of Thanksgiving 2009.

Foley’s comments came at the end of a 20-minute interview, and he raised the issue without prompting.

“Tiger is a wonderful person, and he is a good dude, and he lives a complex life,’’ Foley said. “I think things have got to slow down, and it has got to stop, the daily referendums and the criticism.’’

PGA - Matt Every shot a course-record 9-under-par 63 Thursday to take a three-stroke lead over Hunter Haas after the first round of the Texas Open.

Every, who has never finished higher than third on the PGA Tour, had nine birdies in a bogey-free round. It was a career best on the notoriously unforgiving TPC San Antonio course.

Ben Curtis opened with a 67, and Fredrik Jacobson, Cameron Beckman, Jason Gore, Troy Matteson, and Derek Lamely shot 68. Matt Kuchar, the top-ranked player in the field at 15, shot 70.

Asian - Defending champion Lee Westwood shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Indonesian Masters .

European - Matthew Baldwin took advantage of calm early conditions to shoot a 7-under 65 and lead the China Open by one stroke after the first round.