His platinum-plated persona may be less lustrous for declining to cooperate with police, but Tiger Woods will take a huge hit to his wallet if he doesn't come clean to fans about his Florida car crash, say Boston sports and entertainment crisis managers.
"He's making it look like he has something to hide," said Hub public relations maven Peggy Rose. "If he made a mistake, admit it and move on. How he reacts now will determine his future image."
Woods, 33, turned away investigators from the Florida Highway Patrol for a third straight day yesterday, while issuing this ambiguous statement: "This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I'm human and I'm not perfect.
"This is a private matter," Woods continued, "and I want to keep it that way."
Woods' boyish face, synonymous with Nike and Gillette, was bruised and bloodied early Friday morning after he drove away from his manse in Windermere, Fla., at about 2:25 a.m. and struck a fire hydrant and tree near his driveway.
But celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported his face was injured before the crash, when Woods' wife Elin Nordegren, 29, attacked him over reports he was having an affair. She chased behind his Cadillac Escalade as he tried to get away, attacking it with a golf club, TMZ claimed.
Elin, a Swedish former au pair and mother of his daughter Sam, 2, and son Charlie, 9 months, told police she used the golf club to smash the SUV's windows to extricate her husband after the crash.
Woods' lawyer, Orlando criminal defense attorney Mark NeJame, told the Herald, "We stand by Mr. Woods' previously released statement regarding his privacy. Otherwise, I have nothing further to add at this time."
Forbes magazine last year ranked Woods the second most powerful celebrity in the world - right behind queen of all media Oprah Winfrey - for his $115 million in earnings between June 2007 and June 2008 alone.
Woods, so discreet he named his yacht Privacy, is still scheduled to play in this week's Chevron World Challenge fund-raiser in California.
Rose said Woods finds himself on "predictable turf" for a star athlete, but "needs to be ahead of this story" by following David Letterman's televised tell-all that wiped headlines of his "Late Night" affairs with staffers off front pages.
"Tiger's never faced a real adversity or a challenge. This is going to be a test," Rose said.
George Regan of Regan Communications said Woods can "survive a one-time hit.
"It is what it is. But Tiger Woods is no longer a virgin. He's now the rest of us," Regan said of allegations the world's top-ranked pro golfer strayed from his marriage of five years to dirty dance with Manhattan party girl Rachel Uchitel, 34.
Remarked Regan, "He's not handling it particularly well. If there's nothing to hide, why not talk to the police?"
Police yesterday released 3 minutes and 7 seconds of a 911 call made by one of Woods' neighbors on a cell phone from their street. The winded-sounding man tells emergency officials, "I need an ambulance immediately," and responds "yes" when asked if Woods - not heard identified by name on the tape - is unconscious.
The rumored homewrecker, meanwhile, has denied any sexual romps with Woods to the New York Post, though she admits to having met him through her work as an events planner.
SOURCE: Boston Herald
Laurel J. Sweet
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