Maybe Tiger's Had a PR Plan All Along

The golfer's handling of his infidelity scandal may not be so bad
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 17, 2009 10:39 AM CST
Maybe Tiger's Had a PR Plan All Along
This July 23, 2006, file photo shows Tiger Woods kissing the British Open Golf Championship trophy at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course in Hoylake, England.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

Tiger Woods, so talented at the game of golf, seems to know nothing about the game of PR: He’s hopelessly bungled this whole infidelity scandal—or has he? Though his strategy might not be obvious to all, Simon Dumenco sees a method to the madness, and outlines Tiger’s four-point plan in New York:

  1. Let the mistresses run amok: Why didn’t Tiger take control of the scandal from the start, like Letterman? Because unlike Dave, “Tiger's entanglements involved a sprawling, worldwide network of obviously indiscreet and deeply unpredictable characters”—characters who, fortunately for Tiger, “are essentially beginning to cancel each other out.”

  1. Let golf suffer: Tiger’s “indefinite break” from golf is simply brilliant: Nike and the PGA tour will suffer, and Tiger—instead of being “golf's albatross”—is now “golf's future savior (the second coming of Tiger).”
  2. Let your marriage go: Despite Tiger’s talk of “working to save his marriage,” a divorce is probably best for everyone. And, though “it's a cliché, he probably wanted to get caught.” He’s been a “hound” from day one, and was likely never happy that “all those insanely lucrative endorsement deals forced him to play-act the Happily Married Family Man.”
  3. Let the people watch you suffer: Already, the media is beginning to show Tiger some pity: Note the New York Post’s recent “TIGER’S AGONY” headline. “Media pile-ons always reverse themselves in due time, and by then, Tiger, perversely ennobled by his ordeal, will be ready to play golf again.”
(More Tiger Woods stories.)

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