Tiger’s $100 million decision

It comes down to this; if Tiger Woods ‘fesses up’ and comes clean about why exactly his wife was ‘helping’ him out of his car at 2 am using a golf club, he risks losing $100 million in sponsorship with Nike, Amex & Accenture to name but three. If I were him, I’d go quiet at this moment, not because its a good PR decision, but because of the stomach turning, mind boggling expense of it.

If, as the world suspects, and would like confirmed, Tiger has been caught firing his Nike sponsored balls on the wrong golf course, it could go down as the most expensive sporting infidelity in history.

He’d still be unwise to put money considerations ahead of reputational ones though, that would be putting the golf cart before the horse. David Beckham and Bill Clinton both survived infidelity scandals with their professional reputations unharmed, though in the states, it plays differently and a public confession seems to be compulsory - it worked for David Letterman recently.

So Tiger has gone to ground, perhaps absorbing advice from the many commercial interests who stand to lose as much short term as he does if he fluffs his recovery shot. While  he does, other parties will continue to chip away at his reputation with their own take on the story, as Jesper Parnevik did yesterday, saying “I hope she uses a driver next time instead of a 3-iron.”

Max Clifford has said he wouldn’t be surprised if more UK women come out of the Tiger woodwork in the Sunday papers, in which case, staying in the bunker might be the best move, for the time being. My bet is we’ll see Tiger emerge contrite and confessional – on the Letterman show itself perhaps –  sometime in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, I can only offer my own apology for the Carry On Up The Golf Course puns in this piece, I couldn’t resist them. To borrow Tiger’s words, “I am dealing with my personal failings behind closed doors, with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.” LOL