Tiger's Troubles Chip Away At Image
Fans, Golfers React To Star's Scandal
POSTED: 5:44 pm EST December 8, 2009
UPDATED: 6:03 pm EST December 8, 2009
BOSTON -- The damage to Tiger Woods public image continues to mount along with new allegations of infidelity.Bloomberg News is reporting all of his commercials in prime time have been pulled, and he's lost his first major endorser. Gatorade is the first major company to end its relationship with Woods.The company said the decision was made months ago and has nothing to do with Woods' current troubles.Any way you slice it, the scandal gets uglier by the day."All the women that keep coming up -- it's unbelievable," one fan said."It's crazy. My boss said that this could be bigger than the Clinton story," another fan said.At City Golf, Ben Derrick's heard all the jokes, but he said he's pulling for Woods."I do hope he rebounds because he's fun to watch. He's great for the game of golf. He's brought popularity to the sport like no one ever has," he said.Part of his popularity is a smart, squeaky-clean image.'I don't know how he's going to turn it around. I think it's getting worse and worse," another fan said.A public relations expert said Woods probably wishes he could take a mulligan on how he handled the situation on Day 1."He probably should have talked to the police from the get go. I think that fostered the environment of a secret and because he kept secrets people kept digging," publicist Nicole Keiser said.Keiser said Woods needs to step back and decide if he's a family man or a playboy. Rehabbing his image may mean admitting an addiction, she said."He made a lot of poor choices that are going to take a long time to recover from. I think he can recover but it will be many years before people put this behind them," she said.Keiser said she thinks his endorsements may be safe since most are geared toward men who seem to be more forgiving than women."What he does is his own business if it's legal and private," another fan said."I don't know why we would hold a professional athlete to a higher standard than anyone else. He's human like the rest of us," another fan said.
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