Tiger Woods and girlfriend sued over wrongful death of barman at restaurant

Woods called the man's death "a terrible ending" [Courtesy]

Tiger Woods' preparations for the US PGA have been overshadowed by the American superstar and his girlfriend being sued for the wrongful death of a barman at their Florida restaurant.

Nicholas Immesberger, 24, died on December 10 after allegedly drinking at The Woods Jupiter restaurant and bar after his shift.

Woods' girlfriend Erica Herman is the manager of the restaurant.

The lawsuit claims Herman and Woods knew Immesberger attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and had been drinking with him a few nights before the fatal crash.

The world No.6, who will play his first tournament since winning the Masters this week, said: “We're all very sad that Nick passed away. It was a terrible night, a terrible ending, and we feel bad for him and his entire family. It's very sad.”

On the course, Woods claimed he is “rested and ready” to win another Major as he predicted “a hell of a championship” at the US PGA.

The American superstar has not played since his emotional Masters victory last month – his 15th Major title.

Heavy rain and cool temperatures promised to make the second Major of the year a slog at Bethpage Black on Long Island.

But Woods, 43, said he hopes to benefit from a 31-day break after going Major to Major without another tournament for only the seventh time in his career. He has won twice - at the 1999 PGA and 2008 U.S. Open

“I wanted to play at Quail Hollow (the Wells Fargo Championship), but to be honest with you, I wasn't ready yet to start the grind of practising and preparing and logging all those hours again,” he said.

The Woods Jupiter restaurant in Florida [Courtesy]

“I was feeling good in the gym, but I wasn't mentally prepared to log in the hours,"

"Coming here is a different story. I was able to log in the hours, put in the time and feel rested and ready. That's going to be the interesting part going forward; how much do I play and how much do I rest,"

"I think I've done a lot of the legwork and the hard work already, trying to find my game over the past year and a half. Now I think it's just maintaining it,"

"I know that I feel better when I'm fresh. The body doesn't respond like it used to, doesn't bounce back quite as well, so I've got to be aware of that,”

The 7,400-yard Bethpage Black is so tough that Woods was the only player under par when he won the 2002 US Open here.

The public course has a sign on the first tee saying: “The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers”.

Woods, who played his Monday practice round wearing a ski hat because of biting temperatures, said: “I'm excited to get out there on the golf course. We came up here last week, took a look at it in detail and spent a lot of time on it,"

"I played nine holes yesterday, and I'm going to take today off, I'll practice a bit and I'll play nine holes tomorrow making sure I'm ready to go come Thursday,"

"This is not only a big golf course, but this is going to be a long week the way the golf course is set up and potentially could play. This could be a hell of a championship.”