Editorial: Tiger Woods' shortest-ever drive

Opinion

If you are reading this, you probably don't care about Tiger's marital woes.

A statistically robust survey of three people in this office showed that two were fascinated by the tale of super-human fallibility that emerged from a compound of luxury houses in Florida.

The other one reads the editorials.

This survey does, admittedly, have a margin of error as wide as an Augusta fairway. But Tiger has abandoned those 300-yard fairways in favour of somewhat shorter drives these days, so we regard that as licence to take a few shortcuts in our polling.

Seriously, though, here are three reasons why you should care about Tiger's torrid week.

1. The meek police acceptance of Woods' refusal to meet or speak with them underlines the reality that celebrities are, in some cases, above the law.

2. Women's groups say it raises important questions about our response to domestic violence perpetrated by women. It's still violence. Violence isn't funny.

3. The personal revelations demonstrate the yawning chasm between the glossy but fake brands created by marketers and PR teams, and the real, human reality of a star under pressure. Nike, Gatorade and Gillette don't want losers.

Although Woods' sponsors are backing him for now, one analysis suggests this will knock $100 million off his endorsements over the next 10 years. If drug rumours gain momentum, he will be in real trouble.

But, PR spin aside, there is one thing that Woods can do that is guaranteed to protect his endorsements earnings. And that is win the next tournament.