In the wake of the sex scandals that have left Woods a virtual recluse for months, last weeks Masters was supposed to be the beginning of the way back for the fallen hero. Behind the return were a dedicated PR team that have guided him through his recent turmoil to deliver him to the Masters. But the reality of the ending is far from the fairy tale Woods’ remaining sponsors would have hoped for.

In basic terms for a man that has not played competitive golf for some six months, to be able to contend on such a brutal course as Augusta is a feat in itself. Alas, his final day with its ups and downs, moments of pure genius and foolery saw him finish the tournament in a commendable fourth. But what was the perception of the new Tiger and did he at times revert back to the man people associate with the scandal?

Prior to the Masters Nike ploughed millions of dollars into adverts that showed a humble Tiger listening to words of wisdom from his departed father. Earl Woods was widely regarded as the only person Tiger was willing to answer to and the campaign was at first heralded as a stroke of genius for its utilisation of a voice over from Woods’ father. Whilst the advert may have swayed fans, it seems to have further enraged his long suffering wife and could potentially be the last nail in the coffin that is their marriage.

This was seemingly the height of the PR effort that frankly has been less than stellar, topping off a catalogue of errors that, in my humble opinion, have made this situation ten times worse. In the first instance Woods’ ridiculous commendation of the efforts of his wife in freeing him from his crashed vehicle reeked of cover up and opened the floodgates for the press to dig deeper and the gold diggers to line up. Subsequent denials then confirmations and stories of huge payouts to tell tale women, have all piled on the agony for the Woods family. This culminated with his presentation to the world where he admitted his guilt. But even this was wooden and did little to assuage the anguish felt by fans who had been let down by their hero.

Finally, Masters week was upon us and what we all expected was a triumphant return. It was not to be however and the polished veneer of a new humble Tiger fell away at times and he allowed the arrogance associated with the old Woods to seep back into his performance. With a week that started with Woods fist punching crowd members, smiling and acknowledging the crowd more than ever before, it ended with him sloping off like a petulant child highlighted by his three putt on the 14th. It seems his PR efforts stop when he is not winning.

Let me clarify my position. I am one of those long standing fans who quite honestly could not care less about what he gets up to off the course. For me it’s all about his talent. I respect and understand his sullen nature at times as he is a consummate professional performing under difficult circumstances. His lack of attending celebrity venues is a representation of his sportsman discipline. Granted, had that same discipline been applied to his love life then none of the last six months would have happened but they have.

With Woods on hiatus for the near future, his PR team will no doubt be dreaming up new ways of presenting brand Woods to the public once more. I just hope that they do a better job in the aftermath of the storm than they did in its eye.