The highest earning sportsman in history has crashed his SUV, his wife is allegedly upset with him and she’s used his golf club to smash a window of his vehicle.
What’s more, there’s an allegation of a third woman in Woods’ life - a woman who’s been labelled ‘husband snatcher’, ‘party animal’ and more.
The noise about Tiger Woods across all media is reaching a crescendo, making one wonder whether all the hoopla is justified.
Perhaps it is.
"The consumers of the Tiger Woods brand are not only millions of golf fans around the world, they're also large corporations for which he is a paid endorser…people have bought into Tiger’s squeaky-clean image. Most people don’t want to support or associate with a scum bag. People want a perfect Tiger on and off the course." (More here)
This mess Woods has got into could make every on-air advertisement for Accenture, Nike, Gillette or Gatorade the butt of all jokes, sending precious advertising dollars down the drain.
Above: Tiger Woods in an ad for Accenture
Have a look at how he made a billion dollars. (Source: The Telegraph)
1996
General Motors - worth $10.9 million (£6.6m) per year and ended in December 2008.
Titleist - five-year deal worth $20 million (£12.07m).
General Mills - financial arrangements not disclosed.
American Express - two five-year deals ended in 2007.
Accenture -financial arrangements not disclosed.
Nike - five-year deal worth $40 million (£24.14m).
1999
Woods begins his involvement in the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games.
2000
Nike contract extended for five years and worth $105 million (£63.3m).
2003
Woods gets involved in the launch of Buick's Rendevous SUV.
2004
Buick renew Woods's contract for another five years in a deal understood to be worth $40 million (£24.14m).
2005
Woods collaborates with TAG Heuer to launch the world's first professional gold watch.
2006
Woods signs a new six-year contract with EA Sports - the company behind his video game series.
2007
Together with Thierry Henry and Roger Federer, Woods becomes an ambassador for the Gillette Champions marketing campaign. The deal is believed to be worth between $10-20 million.
Gatorade has announced that Woods will have his own brand of sports drink. Over five years, experts predict the deal to be worth in excess of $100 million (£60.3m)
Are his endorsements in danger?
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His sponsors stand by him.
"Tiger and his family have our full support," said a Nike statement. "We respect Tiger's request for privacy and our thoughts are with Tiger and his family at this time."
Gatorade said: "Our partnership with Tiger continues. We wish Tiger well as he recovers and look forward to seeing him back on the course soon."
Whether linked to clothes, razors or drinks, the Woods name has become a brand that has excited sponsors. He received more than $105m dollars in sponsorship deals alone last year, more than twice as much as his nearest rival, according to Sports Illustrated. (More here)
Bloggers and online media have had a field day, so far.
"The worst thing about all this Tiger Woods business is obviously the effect that it’ll have on our faces. Tiger Woods advertises Gillette, remember. But if he’s really been having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, how are we supposed to trust him? We already don’t trust Thierry Henry (because of his handball) or Roger Federer (because his eyes are too close together) – so if we can’t trust Tiger Woods, then what are we going to do with our faces? We’ll have to grow a beard that’s what. We hate beards. Damn you, Tiger Woods.” (Continue reading here)
The mystery surrounding his car-crash has compounded Woods’ embarrassment even further and a joke factory was up and running in no time. (For the record, ‘tiger woods jokes’ springs up 1,320,000 results in Google search)
There's even a Tiger Woods T-shirt doing the rounds of shopping sites.
Courtesy: Zazzle.com
Twitterville has been chatting too. (Within 140 characters, of course.)
If Tiger Woods held a tell-all press conf at the same time as Obama's Afghanistan speech, who'd get more coverage? (via Michael_haz)
Tiger Woods crashing his car is the first semi-exciting thing to ever happen in golf. (via Joe_madden)
With Roger Federer losing, Thierry Henry's cheating and Tiger Woods' car crash - is Gillette still The Best a Man can Get? (via Sethdickens)
Tiger Woods is super sketchy...and my dad used to get mad when I said I didn't like him, looks like I was right (via @rachelpope)
What's the difference between a golf ball and an SUV? Tiger Woods can drive a golf ball 300 yards. (via @zacharyseibert)
Could it be that Elin Woods used a hybrid on Tiger's SUV thinking it would give him better mileage? She is blonde, after all (via @golfoholics)
So what should Tigers Woods do now? Come clean in the open, say PR consultants.
When it comes to dealing with a personal crisis, Tiger Woods could learn a lot from David Letterman, media experts say. Instead of a vague statement that left many questions unanswered, the late-night comic went very public with his admission of bad behavior, and even cracked a few jokes at his own expense. After a few days, everyone moved on.
"Men and women have been forgiven by their public for misbehavior or misstepping, and even philandering," said Gene Grabowski, who guides high-profile figures — Roger Clemens is a client — through public relations crises as a senior vice president with Washington-based Levick Strategic Communications.
"But what they have never been forgiven for is the cover-up," he said. (More here)
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