Regarding the “hero’s welcome” though, he’ll get one of two welcomes, IMHO, but not both. Either he conquers his personal demons and saves his marriage and we can see through any BS, so he’ll be welcomed back into the club of “good family guys.” Or he’ll fess up, decide his real lifestyle is the one he wants to lead, and starts kicking some serious ass on the golf course, personal life be darned.

Not both, though. We won’t give him the benefit of the doubt.

A truly bungled affair, no pun intended. Letterman was probably fortunate, ironically, to have someone leaving him odd packages in his car because now he gets to look like a victim, too. I realize that’s rather tongue-in-cheek but I do think (much like the above commenter) that this gave him a certain edge over Tiger’s situation. Also, he, being on television nightly, has far, far less opportunity to avoid the glare of the spotlight so it was probably best to ‘take it on the chin’, so to speak.

I tend to think that an straight up apology is the way to go. Mainly because when the world already knows what you did, admitting it seems like a small concession that can only gain you some self-awareness points. Though, honestly, not being in PR, my opinion comes from personal interaction. I do think his disappearance from golf will make his return quite the hero’s welcome back.

-R.

Sadly, makes it seem that the wife and kids charade was all done for effect — perfect golfer, perfect family man, makes him more lovable.

Here’s hoping Mickelson dominates.

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, “Tiger handled this so awkwardly” pretty much sums it up!

I’m a senior in college and we talked about this in my Integrated Marketing Communications class. We all agreed that from now on, Tiger should be completely honest. I agree that he “gave the sharks what they live for” – yikes. Letterman got away with it because he left no speculation. There was nothing to talk about! But Tiger handled this so awkwardly. He barely said anything, and then he apologized all over his website to his wife and family – but for what? the media went nuts.

At first I thought when he had one mistress that it was an unfortunate situation – I mean, one of the biggest causes of divorce is infidelity. But I have to disagree with the poster above. Now that so many women have come forward, I think this situation shows that he ISN’T human. He did a very bad thing, and knew it. It is no longer a mistake after so many people. It’s voluntary. But maybe that’s just me!

Agree that career vs family are way different paths; folks like ESPN’s Rick Reilly are calling for Tiger to go on Oprah in a hot second. And say what? I agree it’s too too early.

Thanks for the comment!

The other ‘pr advantage’ (for lack of a better description) is that Letterman was the victim of an extortion case. Letterman, the women, and all the families were dragged into this. That registered immediate sympathy. So you combine these two factors — and the legs to the story got short, very quickly.

Tiger is a completely different situation. It’s entirely self inflicted, it has bizarre aspects and new evidence emerges every day. He can never ‘get ahead’ of this story. That ship sailed weeks ago.

So what should he do? At this point, it really depends on what Tiger envisions as the primary objective: reclaiming his former family life or his former career trajectory. Unfortunately they don’t necessary move along the same time line. He needs to get right with his family. Until that happens, he can’t sit down with Barabara or Oprah and do the mea culpa.

The good news – at least from a career standpoint – this may make Tiger more popular with golf fans. He is now human. He has been humbled. If it warms him to the public and gives him perspective, it may make him something he never has been: actually likeable.

Time will tell.