Tiger Woods has announced his return to golf at the Masters after a four-month break and unsavoury disclosures about his personal life. Due to his reclusive nature, a number of questions remain to be answered.
Why did he choose the Masters for his comeback?
Augusta National is a notoriously exclusive private club that runs its tournament with an iron fist and little outside scrutiny. Debuting there, rather than at a regular PGA Tour event, will allow Mr. Woods to control his contact with fans and reporters. It is a complete coincidence that there are no female members at Augusta.
What shape will his game be in?
Mr. Woods has a mixed record when returning from extended absences. He missed the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open after a nine-week hiatus to mourn his father, but won the same tournament in 2008 after a similar break to recover from knee surgery. It's unlikely that he played in either of those tournaments after several months without sex.
How will the public react?
Despite intense publicity surrounding Mr. Woods's accident and affairs, many fans remain supportive, saying coverage of the golfer's private life has been hypocritical and in bad taste. Internet users communicated this displeasure in December, after the scandal broke, by Googling his name 5,000 per cent more often than they had in November.
When will the sponsors return?
Companies considering endorsement contracts are likely to wait as they watch public reaction to the comeback and its effect on Mr. Woods's reputation. If he is unable to continue commanding top dollar, he will have to fall back on yearly golf winnings ($10.5-million in 2009), design fees (a rumoured $20-million per course) and interest on the total income from his 14-year career (about $1-billion).
What about his family?
Wife Elin Nordegren has not been seen wearing her wedding ring in public since November. If she and Mr. Woods are unable to rescue their heavily scrutinized marriage, she could go her own way with their daughter and son and pursue a reported earlier career goal: child psychology.
Can he still challenge golf's all-time records?
Mr. Woods has won 71 PGA Tour events and 14 major championships, and still has a good chance to overtake leaders Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (18). He lags much further behind John Daly in ex-wives (4), rehab stints (7), PGA Tour suspensions (5), gambling debts ($50-million to $60-million) and badly reviewed TV reality shows (1).
When will the story die down?
With golf's biggest draw back on the course, the spotlight could return to his sporting exploits. In the United States, where downfall and atonement are standard tollbooths for life in the fast lane, it is only rarely that memories of a sex scandal linger long after the fact. Exceptions include Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Strom Thurmond, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Gary Hart, Clarence Thomas, Bill Clinton, Mark Foley, Gary Condit, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Mike Tyson, Marv Albert, Kobe Bryant, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rob Lowe, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Paris Hilton, David Letterman, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard …
gnicholson@globeandmail.com
