Just a year ago, to the day, Tiger Woods crashed his car into a fire hydrant outside his Florida home. Being named ‘Athlete of the Decade’ by the Associated Press just two days before the crash seemed to have gotten to his head.
What happened to Tiger after the crash marked the greatest downfall of a career ever known. The whole world wanted to know what happened and why Woods pulled out from his own tournament, The Chevron Challenge. Tiger was oddly missing
from all this, being curiously underground and media silent.
As December started, Woods got off with a slap on the wrist being only charged with a ticket for the crash. However, it wouldn’t have been in his wildest dreams what the crash would actually cost him. This date will forever be
etched in his brain, things changing irrevocably for the golfer. In December, Woods announced that he will be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. Many people assumed it was because of the car crash but no serious injuries were reported.
Soon, one after the other, news of Tiger being linked to various ladies started coming out. With every new headline talking about Tiger’s infidelity, his image as a noble golfer and a family man began to shatter. This media damage
alarmed his sponsors and one by one they begin dropping out.
Accenture was the first one to bail and was followed by AT&T, Gillette, General Motors and Gatorade. Despite his actions, Nike and Tag Heuer stayed with the athlete. Not only was his image and family falling apart, Wood suffered
some heavy financial losses. Due to the sponsors dropping out, Tiger lost around $22 million in endorsement deals.
It was actually in February, that the star came out in the open about his actions. In his first public address, Woods apologized for his actions, saying he would change his ways and that he just might not play for the rest of the
year.
His statement however changed as he returned to play The Masters where he finished in fourth place. This was most probably the best finish Woods has had all year long. Not winning any title since the Australian Masters in 2009,
Tiger is still winless. It is the first time in Wood’s career that he hasn’t won a title.
Things really started to look bad between the star and his wife Elin Nordegren. The ‘collection’ of Tiger’s ladies was competing with his collection of major titles. It was even reported that Tiger flew off to see another ‘friend’
of his the night his father died. Seeing how Woods chose Jamie Junger over his wife for comfort, the prospect of his divorce became very likely.
Tiger was even sent to a very expensive s*x addiction rehab. He and Elin tried attending counseling sessions but things were deteriorating by the day. The media damages, coming clean on the mistresses, it seemed like everything
was going horribly wrong. Just as he was battling to save his marriage, it appeared that the golf courses didn’t give him any relief either. He posted his career worst score when he came 78th in an 80 man field at the WGC Invitational. All of his
efforts in the end couldn’t undo his infidelities and the couple divorced on August 23rd, 2010.
Woods lost his wife, his family, his No.1 rank, his respect, and his major sponsors all in one year. No one would be happier than Wood’s for 2010 to be over and for him to start afresh in the 2011 season.
"Obviously this has been a very difficult year for me and my family, on and off the golf course," Tiger said."I got through the year, I'm in a much better place than I was a year ago and my life has balance. It was a lot more difficult
than people could possibly imagine."
Tags: