Tiger, Step Up and Take Control Now!

As we reach Day 7 of Tigergate – the bizarre early morning car crash Tiger Woods was involved in that was apparently triggered by a domestic dispute – the consensus seems to be that Woods is mishandling the public relations side of the incident.

Both the media and general public perception, to this point, have been very critical of Woods’ reluctance or refusal to address the situation publicly.

And they’re right!

Woods has issued a pair of vague statements on his Web site regarding the incident. The first statement acknowledged the car accident while the next statement, three days later, acknowledged his “transgressions” and offered an apology.

But essentially, Woods has remained mute on the entire incident – including cancelling his annual appearance as host of the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament.

Woods’ reluctance to immediately respond and take control of the situation has allowed a minor story to blow up into an international scandal.

As the richest and arguably highest profile athlete in the world, the PR missteps Woods has made are baffling. With some of the industry’s top PR experts at his disposal Woods still made basic yet critical errors that will now require the assistance of a major crisis communications plan to rescue him.

Woods’ current predicament serves as very interesting PR case study. However the situation turns out; teachers, students and practitioners of public relations, especially sports PR, will be discussing and analyzing this Tiger Woods case for many years to come.

As someone who chooses to earn a living as a pro athlete and mega product endorser, Woods does have a responsibility to stand up and be accountable for his actions. He owes his public, sponsors and media some type of personal recognition and explanation.

No, Tiger Woods is not under any obligation to share the most intimate and sensitive issues of his personal life with the public. That’s not what this is about.

This is about how he moves on with his professional life – his brand, image, and golf career. This isn’t about his personal life.

There’s blood in the water and the sharks, whether it’s fair or not, are not going to stop circling until Woods steps up and addresses the situation – in person.

Woods has to stop the bleeding or he’ll always be followed by this PR mess. And the longer he waits to act, the deeper and uglier it will get.

In some respect, there’s a certain honor in Woods’ attitude of not dignifying the situation with a public response. The gossip and entertainment media dug through the mud to force this PR crisis on Woods. So it’s more than understandable if he’s angry and unwilling to give the media any more fodder.

But if Woods continues to ignore his pubic and media, and thinks the situation will just blow over, he’s going to be in a world of misery. The media hounding, questions and inquires will not stop until he takes control of the situation.

It’s the nature of the beast.

The hounding will be a constant disruption for a man who’s already high strung and cantankerous when it comes to the media.

Woods should nip it all in the bud with a press conference. He needs to stand up in front of the world with strength and confidence and address the situation. He should make a statement admitting what he wants to admit and denying what he wants to deny. That’s up to him.

Along with heavy assistance from his PR people, Woods should carefully craft a statement and make sure nothing he says can be deemed as not true or resurface to embarrass him.

The most important part of the press conference, after he explains what he needs to explain, is to finish by firmly stating that this is the last time he’ll address the situation publicly. Woods should boldly announce, “From this point on it is a private matter and will remain that way.”

This way, when any media approaches in the future and asks about the situation (and they will) Woods can simply say, “I’ve already addressed the matter and have no further comment.”

Woods will have to sustain some media heat for a while but it will eventually die down. It always does.

As more people begin to surface and become apart of the story, Woods won’t be able to control what they say or do. He’ll have to weather those storms as they come about and take the high road.

But he must remain calm and professional no matter how intrusive or inappropriate any media may act. The last thing Woods needs is more attention on this issue.

This Tiger Woods PR situation should serve as a strong reminder to the rest of the sports world to align itself with strong PR representation before a crisis hits…and if and when it does, heed their advice.