ANALYSIS-Golf-Woods needs to rebuild image in crafted comeback (Reuters)
February 4, 2010
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
LOS ANGELES, Feb 4 (Reuters) – While speculation escalatesover when Tiger Woods will return from exile to competition, theexecution of his comeback continues to attract widespreadcomment from communication experts and his fellow players.
The American world number one has been in hiding sinceadmitting on his website in December he had cheated on hisSwedish wife Elin and he has been roundly advised to answer hiscritics in public before reappearing on the golf circuit.
“If Tiger wants to minimise the scrutiny he’ll get on tour,he has to proactively manage the situation by doing an interviewbefore his first event back,” communications specialist MichaelGordon told Reuters on Thursday.
“Oprah (Winfrey) and ESPN would be two great forums for him.Either way, he needs to speak publicly, be honest and apologise.
“By doing that, he can regain some of the control he’s lostover his public image,” said Gordon, chief executive of GroupGordon Strategic Communications in New York.
Eight-times major winner Tom Watson, speaking ahead of thisweek’s Dubai Desert Classic, agreed.
“When he comes back, he has to show some humility to thepublic,” the 60-year-old Watson told reporters at the EuropeanTour event. “If I were him, I’d come back not at a golftournament but out in public first.
“I would do an interview with somebody and say: ‘You knowwhat, I screwed up. I’m going to change, I am trying to change.I want my wife and family back, I have to earn her trust back’.That’s what Tiger is going to have to do.”
After becoming engulfed in a media frenzy following abizarre early-morning car crash outside his Florida home on Nov.27, the American’s squeaky-clean image was torn asunder byallegations of extra-marital affairs.
Although Woods was the most marketable player in the game,his image will need to be carefully rebuilt if he is to win backmany of the fans he has lost since his stunning fall from grace.
FEELING DIFFERENT
“I really feel bad for the Woods family but I certainly feela little different about Tiger now,” Los Angeles-based golf fan,student and mother Laura Maggay told Reuters.
“My son plays golf and I have to explain to him one of hisheroes, Tiger, is going through all this. And that’s difficultto explain when it’s someone he has really looked up to.
“Tiger has to recognise that as well. There are a lot ofkids out there who look up to him.”
There is a possibility that Woods, a 14-times majorchampion, could attract new fans now that his human flaws havebeen so publicly exposed.
Previously he was put on a pedestal by many and viewed as aremarkable but almost blinkered player who never really took thegalleries to heart in the way of a Phil Mickelson.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” said British Open championStewart Cink, who jested Woods was made of nuts and bolts afterbeing pummelled by his fellow American in the 2008 WGC-AccentureMatch Play Championship final.
“When I said that about nuts and bolts, maybe that wassomething a lot of people were also thinking. Now, maybe a lotof people think if you open him (Woods) up, you see a beatinghuman heart. We all have our short comings.
“I guess that’s one reason why John Daly has been so popularwith the fans. They identify with him and his trials andtribulations.”
Gordon felt Woods was capable of regaining his vast fan baseif he acted appropriately.
“Tiger does have a reservoir of good will as an athlete —not as a husband—and over time he can return to his formerheights,” Gordon said.
“The key is how he handles it. If he continues to avoid themedia and in turn his fans, he may play some great golf but noone will be cheering for him.”
(Editing by Pritha Sarkar; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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