London: While speculation escalates over when Tiger Woods will return from exile to competition, the execution of his comeback continues to attract widespread comment from communication experts and his fellow players.
The American world number one has been in hiding since admitting on his website in December he had cheated on his Swedish wife Elin and he has been roundly advised to answer his critics in public before reappearing on the golf circuit.
"If Tiger wants to minimise the scrutiny he'll get on tour, he has to proactively manage the situation by doing an interview before his first event back," communications specialist Michael Gordon told reporters.
"Oprah (Winfrey) and ESPN would be two great forums for him. Either way, he needs to speak publicly, be honest and apologise.”
"By doing that, he can regain some of the control he's lost over his public image," said Gordon, chief executive of Group Gordon Strategic Communications in New York.
Eight-times major winner Tom Watson, speaking ahead of this week's Dubai Desert Classic, agreed.
"When he comes back, he has to show some humility to the public," the 60-year-old Watson told reporters at the European Tour event. "If I were him, I'd come back not at a golf tournament but out in public first.”
"I would do an interview with somebody and say: 'You know what, I screwed up. I'm going to change, I am trying to change. I want my wife and family back, I have to earn her trust back'. That's what Tiger is going to have to do."
After becoming engulfed in a media frenzy following a bizarre early-morning car crash outside his Florida home on Nov. 27, the American's squeaky-clean image was torn asunder by allegations of extra-marital affairs.
Although Woods was the most marketable player in the game, his image will need to be carefully rebuilt if he is to win back many of the fans he has lost since his stunning fall from grace.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, February 05, 2010, 13:57