Tiger Woods has been swinging his way on to the golf scene since the age of 2. No one would have imaged that the little boy that premiered on the Mike Douglas Show, would become one of the greatest golfers of our time at the age of 35. Through out Tiger’s career, he has won over “95 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour with the second Masters victory in 2001, becoming the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time” (Tiger Woods, 2011). In 2007, Tiger’s skills had proven that he could generate huge endorsements as well as major revenue. In that particular year, he was the first athlete in history stated by Forbes.com to have banked $100 million in one year. Yes, it is fair to say that Tiger Woods was a force to be reckoning with, “when you’re on the golf course, you’re the boss,” stated Earl Woods. Tiger truly had a certain demeanor and genuine innocence about him and there was no one like him. Tiger was an athlete that brought respect and dignity to the game of golf; his fans adore him, while his competitors dreamed of being him. So how did Tiger go from being one of the top golfer’s in the country to headlining one of the biggest sports scandals of the decade?
The Downfall:
Late morning on November 29, 2009, police were called to Tiger Wood’s residence in Windermere, Florida for a car accident involving the pro golfer. When officers arrived at the scene, Wood’s wife Elin who apparently rescued him from the accident and which Tiger suffered minor injuries greeted them. Later that week rumors surfaced that the couple had an argument which may have caused the accident, regarding Tiger possibly having an affair. After the police department closed their case regarding the accident, there were a few women that came forward stating they had affairs with the pro golfer. Within two weeks there were a total of 9 women that declared they had relationships with Tiger Woods while he was married to his wife. Some people would say, “alright, another athlete that had an affair with several women, it happens all the time.” Well this time, there was a major price to pay and Tiger Woods felt all the consequence of his actions which caused him to not only lose his family, but also affected his career.
The Aftermath:
The Tiger Woods scandal was one of the biggest downfalls of the decade in my book. Tiger came from winning multiple championships and being the highest paid golfer’s to being shunned by his family, colleagues, fans and advertisers. A year later Tiger is still trying to revive his career and personal life after the scandal. He hasn’t won a single trophy, his wife filed for divorce, and Tiger ended up losing some major endorsements. These endorsements included Accenture, AT&T, and Gatorade. It has been reported by CNBC that Woods could lose between $23 and 30 million dollars in endorsements, due to his marital infidelity scandal. The loss of money was one aspect of the consequences Woods had to suffer due to his choices, but he soon faced more. After much pressure the golfer held a press conference publicly revealing some of his personal issues that caused him to make the choices he did.
Many people fail to realize that by Tiger Woods having an innocent image and “good guy” persona, this able him to operate a successful foundation that benefit over millions of youth which was also funding by one of the companies that dropped him. It was such a blow to the sports industry when the Tiger’s scandal hit the media. However, it goes to show that everyone is not perfect.
-The Sportsnista '95
Reference:
Pictures:
Sports Video Daily. Oct 6, 1978-Tiger Woods appears on The Mike Douglas Show. Retrieved July 10, 2011 from http://www.sportsvideodaily.com/wp/index.php/2010/10/06/oct-6-1978-tiger-woods-appears-on-the-mike-douglas-show/
Tonic Gossip. (2009). Tiger Woods Face Womanizer Scandal. Retrieved July 10, 2011 from http://tonicgossip.com/2009/12/10/where-in-the-world-is-tiger-woods/tiger-woods-2-250906/
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