Jason Dasey

In the United States, you sin on a Saturday night, confess on a Sunday morning and you're back at it the next Saturday night. Social commentator Randy Cohen made this observation of an all-American cycle as Tiger Woods rejoined sex addiction therapy this week after his TV apology that left everyone wondering exactly when he'd be returning to competitive golf. As if to test the waters of public opinion and forgiveness before making up his mind, Tiger's comments about his comeback seemed deliberately ambiguous. 'I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be,' he said as if gazing into a possible Champions Tour debut in 2026, before adding: 'I don't rule out that it will be this year.' And then, right on cue, at the end of his monotonous monologue in Florida, his Thailand-born mother, Kutilda, was doing her bit to soften attitudes against her son, and maybe even try to drum up some much-needed sympathy. 'I am upset the way media treated him like he's a criminal,' she said. 'He didn't kill anybody .... he didn't do anything illegal.' In the space of two sentences, Tiger had gone from villain to victim. Just like the meticulous preparation that the world number-one player goes through before a big tournament, the Woods' PR machine is leaving nothing to chance as it calculates the exact timing of his comeback. 'This was the first step to him returning to golf and tested the reaction of the media, the public and even the other players,' said Damien McDowell of Hong Kong-based brand Rapport, which helps promote regional golf events. 'His management team will now plan the next step in his return to the public eye with that feedback in mind.' Most Asian commentators agreed the year's first major - the Masters from April 8 to 11 - was the most likely and the most strategic tournament for the Woods comeback. 'By that time, the US press will have moved on and allowed Tiger and his family to resolve the issues without being in the media spotlight all the time,' said Japan-based Paul Jones, an former Australian professional player and director of Ian Poulter's fashion line, IJP Design, Asia. McDowell added: 'The Majors have well-established lists of media attendees and have no room to allow tabloid outlets to attend their events for the first time, probably limiting the number of negative questions he would get asked.' Avoiding those negative questions - about exactly how many affairs, allegations of recreational drug use and what really happened in that Thanksgiving weekend car crash - must be the priority for Team Woods to get sport's biggest cash cow back into full production. Truthful answers without 'spin' could prove disastrous. And doing whatever it takes to keep Elin part of the picture will be almost as important as Tiger's results once he gets back on the course. A divorced 14-time major champion estranged from his children is much harder to market than a rehabilitated and repentant family man. One report in December claimed that his Swedish wife was being offered US$80 million to stay married for another two years. Not surprisingly, fellow players and golf administrators have been slow to criticise Tiger, because while he's away, they face the prospect of earning considerably less. Whatever it takes - Mississippi rehab roundtables, marriage counselling sessions or stilted TV confessionals - the man who wears red on Sundays, swears like a trooper and scolds photographers must weave his magic again as soon as possible. 'Golf needs him back and he needs golf back,' said Tenniel Chu, executive director of Mission Hills Golf Club, near Shenzhen. 'This is a personal matter between him and his wife and the public has no place in judging whether he has made appropriate amends to his partner.' During his TV address, Tiger announced that he intended to renew his commitment to the Buddhist faith that his mother taught him at a young age. Chu added that he didn't think Tiger's pulling power across Asia would be affected in the long term. 'In general, Asians are not prudish, so I don't think that Tiger's fame and recognition as a great sportsman is tarnished over here,' Chu said. 'A strong comeback and genuine departure from his past 'lifestyle' will be key to not letting his personal issues come to the forefront of his public image.' It's a fine line between banking millions of dollars in endorsements based on your global popularity and scolding the media for inquiring into your private life, as Woods did in his Clintonesque apology, where limited information was given and the words were carefully scripted, apparently to hide the whole, embarrassing truth. Yet few people doubt that the Tiger scandal will blow over as soon as a bigger and fresher story enters the public psyche. 'Tiger will bounce back and the companies will return, although perhaps not the same brands,' Jones said. 'We live in a dynamic world with very different values to those that existed 20 years ago.' This is the Year of the Tiger, after all - and Augusta in springtime seems the perfect time to let Eldrick out of the cage.