Eight things golf fans would love to see Tiger do now

The SBS Championship and the 2010 PGA Tour season begin this Thursday...thank goodness. But though Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker, Ryan Moore and the rest of last year's winners will deflect some of the attention given to the Tiger Woods scandal, speculation over Woods's whereabouts (New York now?) and his next move will likely continue to dominate golf-related headlines, especially when this month's Vanity Fair hits newsstands next week.

Not since December 14th has an attention/payoff-seeking young woman come forward to tell the world of her dalliance with the world number one (will he still be number one when he does return?). The issue of his being involved with a Canadian doctor charged with drugs-related offenses has largely disappeared. And nothing substantial on the future of the Woods/Elin Nordegren alliance has appeared since December 18th. But there's still plenty, it seems, to keep New York Post headline writers busy (the front page of the paper's web site still lists Woods, Nordegren, and Rachel Uchitel as 'Hot Topics'). It may be losing some of its momentum, but there's sufficient fuel left in the story's tank to take it from one revelation to the next.

There's the business angle; how brittle some of the most lucrative endorsement deals in the history of sports now seem, and the affect on shareholders (of the companies that backed Woods) who lost, according to two UC Davis researchers somewhere between $5billion and $12billion - a theory systematically debunked by blogger Ryan Ballengee who rightly questioned how on Earth a report citing a $7billion gap in its estimate range could be considered valid, and who discovered, simply by checking the figures presumably, that the company most likely to suffer from Woods's off-course activities - Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting - had actually seen its share price go up from $41 on November 30th, about the time the storm began brewing, to $41.50 by close of play on New Year's Eve - not a big gain certainly, but a gain nonetheless.

Then there is the little matter of how all this impacts golf itself. The NYP and other publications that focus on the raunchier, more lurid aspects of the story, might not be too interested in how it affects the chase for Ryder or FedEx Cup points, or what it means for Joe Golfer next time he heads out for 18 holes. But committed golf fans will watch with great interest how their sport comes to terms with so much attention, most of it negative.

Still, the current lull in proceedings gives us time to ponder what Tiger and his handlers could have done differently - a task made a lot easier with the benefit of hindsight of course - and what they might think about doing now (even though the following probably, and in some cases definitely, won't happen).

Should Have:
1) Played in the Chevron World Challenge.
Okay, he might have had and a fat lip (what a beautifully unambiguous name for a facial injury) resulting from the car accident, and the sheer bedlam in the press tent during his press conferences would have rendered the actual tournament more or less meaningless, but there was more to be gained from showing up and keeping his commitment to Chevron and his Foundation than hiding.

2) Made the web site messages worthwhile.
The few lines most likely composed in a room full of advisers and then posted on his web site in the hope of appeasing disappointed fans ended up sounding rather hollow. A little more raw emotion was necessary.

3) Met with the Florida Highway Patrol as soon as possible.
Three times the FHP knocked on Woods's door seeking a statement, three times they were asked to come back another day. Obviously Woods had a right to do that, because the FHP didn't bust down his door, cuff him and march him out to a waiting squad car. But civil right or not, fat lip or not, refusing to co-operate fully with the authorities looked very, very bad.

4) Apologized on TV.
An obvious one, but perhaps the single most telling move Tiger could have made was to appear on screen apologizing to his wife, children, sponsors and fans. One hopes that is still to come, but like his web site messages, when (and if) he does eventually say sorry on-screen it will have an air of 'damage limitation' rather than genuine remorse.

5) Beat the gold diggers to the punch.
Rick Reilly put it succinctly, if a little cynically; if you're going to deviate, do it with one woman whose life you make so cushy she has no need or desire to let the world in on your little secret.
Better still; don't deviate. 

6) Made the Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy public at the time.
Obviously, the PRP therapy occurred long before the sex scandal, but when news of it broke, it just turned into something sinister which it needn't have been. No, there was no need to hold a press conference in summer last year specifically for the purpose of revealing the use of PRP as that would have drawn attention to it unnecessarily and made too big a deal of what Tiger's advisers and doctors have insisted wasn't a big deal. But the Tiger Woods PR machine could have let it be known, in a way that didn't arouse any suspicions, that Woods was hoping to speed up his recovery from knee surgery with the totally legitimate therapy. Don't make a song and dance about it, but don't sweep it under the carpet altogether.

Should do:
1) Get some world-class counseling.
Marsha Friedman of Event Management Services tells Golf World that Tiger should 'speak to small groups, inner-city associations, support groups - anyone who will listen to him detail what went wrong with his life that led to such a monumental betrayal.'
Support groups and 'inner-city associations' (presumably Orlando would have some of those) sound a bit extreme for so insular an individual as Woods perhaps, but he probably needs some serious 'couch' time. In a typically insightful article in the next issue of Golf Digest, Jaime Diaz links Woods's recent behaviour with the loss of his father Earl who died on May 3rd 2006. Diaz quotes Neil Chethik, author of the book 'FatherLoss', who says it's not uncommon for an adult son, after losing his father, to be particularly susceptible to reckless behavior. 'The specter of death and mortality can leave a man feeling that you only go around once, and so how do you enjoy it the most?' says Chethik. 'Men can give in to whatever excess they are most vulnerable to. It could be drinking, or gambling, or sex. It's more complicated for a megastar like Tiger because he can't really have a normal private life. Everything is so exposed. He can really only have a secret life.'

2) Play soon.
No, not at the SBS Championship perhaps, but maybe at Bay Hill and definitely the Masters.  By playing golf, Woods will not be showing contempt for his wife and those who think he should stay away from the game for at least a year. He will get past that dreaded first press conference sooner rather than later, and return to the stage on which he feels most comfortable, and where this crazy life makes the most sense. That's best for everyone involved, from himself to his wife, his fans and the PGA Tour.

3) Yes, play some golf, but enlist a male to accompany him.
Why not take the counselor along and simultaneously work on the inner Tiger while preventing a recurrence of what happened?

4) Sign at least 500 autographs the week of his first tournament back...and keep signing autographs.
If he turns up at the course on Monday and leaves it on Sunday that's just over 71 autographs a day. Also, he should make a concerted effort not to swear or hurl clubs - should a driver ever go plowing into the gallery again, he must apologize, ensure no one was hurt, and give the club to the youngest spectator he can see...okay, sign his hat then pass that on.

5) Remember the tenets; 'Grace Under Fire' and 'Rise Above it'.
Coming back to golf will be the toughest thing Tiger has ever done, and he will likely not be given a free pass by spectators who see an opportunity to vent their anger or make fun. He will need to exercise a huge amount of patience and restraint while the brouhaha dies down.

6) Reveal more of himself in the press tent.
The press knows who Tiger is. He's not Phil Mickelson, so golf writers will never expect him to list all the Christmas presents he bought for Sam and Charlie, or talk at length about his preparations for the tournament. But a few more details would be nice, as would a genuine smile...and try not to respond to each question as if it was asked by a complete imbecile. 

7) Make undocumented, unadvertised visits to the TW Learning Center.
Turn up unannounced every so often without a camera crew. Spend the day sitting it on classes and talking with the kids about what they've learnt and what their plans are. Then just as he is about to leave, get the check book out and write the Learning Center or Foundation a check for a sizeable amount of money. The mutual benefits will be huge.

8) Don't accept any appearance money for a while, or accept it then give it away.
News that Woods is being paid $3million to go and play in Melbourne or Dubai will incense a lot of people. Whether or not tournament directors want to pay him appearance fees anymore is debatable but there's no doubt he's been worth it in the past. If pay for play is offered again, Tiger should insist 100% of the amount goes to local charities. He doesn't need to earn another cent from golf, ever. He could state that everything he earns from now on will go to his Foundation and his standard of living will still be better than that of 99.99% of civilization.