Sure, most of us have gotten on with our lives post the Tiger Woods scandal ... Whether the hero-loving corporate world has, though, we’ll soon find out...

Nelson Mandela is a powerful political figure, Tiger Woods is not ... Nelson Mandela is a powerful political figure, Tiger Woods is not ...
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We inaugurated this space 12 months ago in the surreal atmosphere of the Tiger Woods scandal, and the spectacle of his sponsors rushing for the exits. The year that followed turned out to be as bad for Woods as everyone

had predicted, both personally (divorce) and professionally (his first winless season). But as his 2010 mercifully ended, only having to endure being the butt of some light ribbing from Shane Warne at a Crown Casino gala dinner, Woods could look forward to his most hoped-for scenario – something like a clean slate. If he was looking for consolation, he could always remind himself that he’s not Lance Armstrong.

What will follow this year is a case study in the dollar value of redemption. Tiger first rose to become the most prolific athlete endorser yet seen on the back of his unique (and ultimately hollow) saintliness. This marked him out from his forerunner, Michael Jordan, who had a harder, edgier charisma, more akin to a dictator with a

cult of personality.

Woods is now free of the responsibility of being the paragon of virtue his father, Earl, claimed he would be. What will be interesting to see is whether he remains as profitable – in effect, will he still be able to make money by being more like himself?

Robert Lusetich, who tailed Tiger throughout 2009 and wrote an account of it, Unplayable, makes the point that the strains of Woods’ public personality – let alone his private side – were inevitably going to clash. “Tiger is a perfect storm, everything had to happen the way it did,” Lusetich says. “His father telling him he’s special – not

just a great golfer, but special. He understood his dad was something of a bullshit artist, a great one, a charming one. When Tiger got older, he understood that instinct in his father, but as a kid, I think he believed all of this. He really did sense this responsibility as being this special, world-changing character. But deep down, the personality he has, he’s not a political animal.

“Tiger was never going to be Cassius Clay. It’s no surprise that Nike put him together with Jordan ... I think that part of Tiger understood the branding. I’ve heard him use the term ‘the brand’. It’s a strange thing to hear a man talk about himself and say ‘the brand’.”

The brand, like the man, is in the process of repairing itself. Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg of IMG, told CNBC late last year that a new endorsement deal from Asia was in the works, as was a deal for the space on his golf bag, previously occupied by Buick and AT&T. They had been judicious about going back out to market, even polling a target demographic about the timing. “I think we live in a society that’s about second chances,” Steinberg said, rather hopefully.

But those chances have to be grasped. In previous superstar athlete reclamation projects (Kobe Bryant comes to mind), becoming a more authentic public figure is entirely less important than winning. If on-field success doesn’t exactly absolve everything, it somehow makes the player worthy of selling widgets again.

Interestingly, the latest edition of Woods’ long-running video game is released later this month, (March 31) and he’s conspicuously absent from the cover. One might be suspicious that the game’s publisher, Electronic Arts, was sidelining him for at least this year. But EA has been one of Tiger’s most vocal corporate supporters, and the game’s new cover subject is worthy of its hype – Augusta National, home of the Masters, featured in a video game for the first time.

Verisimilitude is quite impressive in sports video games these days, but there are limits. In Tiger Woods PGA Tour gamers can play a career mode where they create a golfer and gain new sponsors as they level up. You can be sure that the programmers at EA didn’t include off-course scandals as part of the game.

– Jeff Centenera