Only one of those pillars is damaged. Tiger remains perhaps the greatest golfer ever. His many charities and the Tiger Woods Foundation remain standing. Infidelity has made a lie of his life as an upstanding citizen. His image as a good husband has been rightly trashed. However, lest we forget, there is much more to Tiger than the headlines. The roof is tilting at Tiger Inc. but it isn’t falling down despite what the media would have us believe.

The timeline for his bad behavior starts (so far) after his father, Earl died. I suspect that he is holed up because he is overwhelmed with the shame of disappointing Earl. Without his father he lost his moral compass.

I hope that he is equally ashamed of how he has let down his wife, Elin. Tiger has always accepted responsibility for his performance on the golf course and learned from his mistakes. This gives us reason to hope that he will accept responsibility for cleaning up his act and making things right with Elin (if it’s not too late). The good news is Tiger has always ended up better from his struggles.

Through it all, Tiger is maintaining his right to privacy. I think he has that right. The idea that a public figure is required to spill his guts is one dreamed up by the media. I hope he holds fast.

Tiger has been found out as a dirtbag but let’s not throw him under the bus. Let’s wait and see if he can get his bearings and change himself as well as he changes his golf swing. Even Tiger deserves a chance.

“I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”

Tiger Woods is a very smart man. He is surrounded by very smart advisors. He knows that the best thing he could do in his situation is to make a full confession and plead for forgiveness. Instead, he is risking even greater damage to his reputation by saying nothing. Something is wrong with this picture.

Tiger is the most dominant golfer of all time. He is the first billionaire athlete. His riches exceed imagination. Those facts cannot be taken away. However, his carefully crafted, squeaky clean persona was proved false last week. Ends up he has a sleazy side.

As the details emerge, I’m impressed will how well he was able to keep his secret life secret. How does one of the most visible men in the world manage to sneak around with women who are not his wife without getting caught?

“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves”*

Tiger says he has not been true to his values. Horse feathers. He hasn’t been true to the values he knows are important but he has been true to his own values. If Tiger valued fidelity more than he valued secret sexual encounters he would have kept his putter in his pants.

We’ve learned of three women rumored to have slept with Tiger while he was married to his wife. This is not a case of a man becoming so smitten with a woman that he lost his senses. This is a case of wilful, serial unfaithfulness. So are there other women still under wraps? Is that the real reason Tiger is not talking?

“I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.”*

No matter how this turns out, I will remain a big time fan of Tiger the golfer. His talent transcends his transgressions. It may be difficult for me to remain a fan of Tiger the great sportsman. What do you think?

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*From Tiger Woods comments on his web page Dec 2, 2009 http://bit.ly/7Gxboa