Golf without Tiger Woods is like soda pop without the fizz.
He is to the PGA Tour what champagne is to New Year’s Eve. One without the other just comes up flat.
Good thing, then, that the world’s No. 1 draw appears on the cusp of the greatest comeback in his life.
Not only are there signs Woods is returning to the game, it appears he has also saved his marriage, his family life and a fortune estimated at more than $600 million.
Things are looking up — and not just when he hangs up his pants at night.
The snickers about his dalliance with porn stars, strippers and cocktail waitresses appear to be dying down.
Some sense of normalcy is returning for Woods. He and wife, Elin Nordegren, have been seen playing kissy-face again and he is reported to be working out near his home with coach Hank Haney.
It has all led to speculation Woods will end his self-imposed exile.
Golf legend Jack Nicklaus said earlier this month he expected Woods to return before the April 8 Masters.
That leaves two likely options. Long-time friend Mark O’Meara this week told the Golf Channel that the Tavistock Cup, March 22-23 would be a “nice way to ease back into the whole situation”.
Tour pro Charles Howell III said he has run into Woods on the Isleworth practice range.
The event is closed to the public and features U.S. PGA Tour players from Woods’ club at Isleworth against pros who live at Lake Nona. Both private clubs are owned by the Tavistock Group, an investment firm. In other words, a friendly, controlled environment.
Just the way Woods likes it.
Then there’s the Arnold Palmer Invitational which begins two days after the Tavistock Cup. His agent has been seen talking to tournament organizers.
“Golf is what Tiger does and possibly part of the healing process is to get back at it,” said O’Meara, who has been a friend since Woods turned pro.
Since then, he has won 14 majors, leaving him four short of Nicklaus’ record. But he will not be returning to the same world he left.
Woods’ orchestrated image as a clean-living, all-America family man was blown apart last November when a bizarre accident with his SUV outside his home escalated into revelations of sexual liaisons with a string of mistresses of dubious reputation.
Elin was not amused. She took the couple’s two children, Sam 2 and Charlie, 11 months, and started divorce proceedings.
Woods became a pariah. Endorsement deals worth an estimated $1 billion are splintered. Gillette, Pepsi-Co Gatorade, Accenture and AT&T dropped him. He became the punch line to a hundred late-night TV talk show jokes.
While his wife has halted divorce proceedings and returned home, Woods’ fans appear less forgiving.
A survey of 1,800 consumers by Q Scores revealed Woods’ negative ratings have leaped 160% since last summer making him the most negatively viewed athlete since Kobe Bryant faced rape accusations.
Q Scores has been measuring celebrity star power for advertisers and Fortune 500 companies for five decades. He has fallen from being rated with Paul McCartney and Alicia Keyes down to Jerry Springer’s league. Only 16% of respondents named him as favourite and nearly 50% rated him negatively.
The only way Woods can recoup some of his popularity is by returning to golf, and it wouldn’t hurt if he improved on some of his etiquette on and off the course.
No more brushing off requests for autographs, no more barking at galleries and no more temper tantrums — not if he hopes to win back fans along with his family.
He will also have to put up with a travelling circus that will include the regular sports media but also entertainment writers, bloggers and the paparazzi. It won’t last long but it is the price Woods will have to pay to regain his fame, a good name, and his fortune.
So-called citizen journalism is everywhere. This week RadarOnline.com quoted a witness who said Elin and Tiger were “hugging and kissing right out in the open” in their Orlando-area neighbourhood.
It quoted a source close to the couple as saying: “They’ve come a long, long way. There was a time when she wouldn’t even look at him. He’s winning her back.”
The report was soon picked up in the mainstream media, along with others that said Elin agreed to give him another chance but has refused to have another baby, something Tiger felt would make the marriage stronger.
Everyone, it seems, has a Tiger tale these days — and they won’t go away until he steps up to the tee.
If the new improved Tiger can play like the old Tiger, the world may not forget but it will forgive.
Already sponsors who couldn’t afford Woods before the scandal, are talking to his management about new sponsorship deals.
Meantime, William Hill, the England’s second-biggest bookmaker, lists him as the 3-1 favourite to win the Masters.
In all, not bad for a guy who a month ago was labelled a liar and a serial cheater.
bill.lankhof@sunmedia.ca
