Fans, sponsors and fellow players on Saturday lamented the stunning fall from grace of one of the world's sporting Titans after Tiger Woods announced he would take an "indefinite break" from professional golf over a sex scandal that rocked his life and career.
While many fans, and almost all of his major commercial sponsors expressed understanding for the world No 1 golfer's decision to take time off to save his marriage, some supporters questioned the celebrity culture that had built him into such a towering social and sporting icon.
As the world watched open-mouthed, Woods' carefully cultivated image crumbled in the short space of two weeks as a parade of up to 12 women - from cocktail waitresses to porn stars - came forward to say they had had flings with the 33-year-old married father of two.
-- Most fans, sponsors stand by him, despite disappointment In a statement on his website on Friday, Woods, the first athlete to earn $1 billion and believed to be the wealthiest sports personality in the world, confessed to "infidelity" in his marriage after an earlier vague admission of "transgressions". He asked for forgiveness from fans, family and supporters and said he would leave golf for an indefinite period "to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person".
As commentators tried to count the cost of Woods' absence from the PGA Tour and the multibillion-dollar world of golf, reactions poured in to his website, many supportive of the athlete and his Swedish wife Elin Nordegren. "Tiger, Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. Enjoy your time off," read one posting, referring to Woods' upcoming 34th birthday on December 30.
Another writer, while acknowledging Woods had "strayed off the fairway" with his behaviour, said his announcement was "not the end of the earth". "The sponsors will come running back when he has resolved his personal life ... Tiger is human. He made a mistake. We all do," the writer said. Sports business commentator Rick Horrow told CNN golf had "lost a billion-dollar juggernaut".
Woods' absence from the spotlight is likely to hammer golf broadcasts - ratings for tournaments dropped nearly 50 percent in the eight months he was absent in 2008-2009 as he recovered from knee surgery. His fall from grace resounded throughout the golfing world. From Australia, four-times-married US golfer John Daly urged Woods to "Take a break, get it together".
What pierced Woods' larger-than-life, clean-living persona, propped up by lucrative endorsement deals and polished by the media and adoring fans, was a minor early morning car accident outside his Florida home on November 27. Speculation that the accident was provoked by a blazing quarrel between Woods and his wife over his affairs rapidly ballooned into a full-fledged sex scandal that turned his previously unblemished life and career upside down.
While most of Woods' biggest celebrity endorsement sponsors, which include Procter & Gamble's Gillette, Nike and Electronic Arts, continued to stand by their commercial icon, some analysts said his image, and perhaps also his value, had undoubtedly been tarnished. AT&T, while expressing support for Woods and his family, said it was evaluating its relationship with him. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that TAG Heuer had ordered stores in Australia to remove advertising posters that featured Woods.
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