Wounded tiger out of the woods — for now

After golfing great Tiger Woods crashed a Cadillac Escalade against a water hydrant and an oak tree in the wee hours of a Saturday morning, the Press has had a field day, speculating that the accident happened after a bust-up with his comely wife Elin Nordegreen.

Apparently, his marriage to the Swedish model was getting crowded, with word having it that three more lookers had happened in the golfer’s life. There was also talk of cell phone text and voice messages which he denied, denied and denied. He would later—most likely on the advice of an image manager—own up to the indiscretions and apologise to his family and fans.

If I were Tiger Woods, I would have told the whole world that: “There comes a time when a man must succumb to temporary or permanent madness, which explains the small matter of the car hitting water hydrants and trees.”

But Woods is no villager like some of us. New York’s Daily News reports that he made US$117 million last year, and was the first sportsman to cross the billion-dollar mark in earnings. Out of the US$117 million, US$7.7 million was made on the golf course.

Woods is certainly not going Kobe Bryant’s way. The American basket ball wizard lost his biggest endorsements in 2004 after being accused of rape. He weathered the storm and made US$45 million last year. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps lost a to-kill-for deal with breakfast cereal giant Kellogg’s earlier this year after being photographed smoking pot. None of this will happen to Woods.

Corporate America is in no hurry to cancel his endorsements and "nearly all of them, from Nike to Gillette to video game maker Electronic Arts, issued statements backing the beleaguered golf superstar," reports the Daily News. Until word about his marital indiscretions went out, nothing unsavoury was sticking on this golfer. Maybe the tiger was waiting to pounce.

Evolutionary psychologists will tell you it happens when you are a successful male mammal. As you produce more testosterone as the other sex craves your super genes (who wouldn’t want a world champion for a daughter or son, besides your money?) And, this way, healthy species are propagated.

When it happens, you can’t rule out scratches on the face.