You're All Wrong! Tiger's PR Brilliant from Day One

Conveniently lost in the middle of last night’s health care vote was Tiger Woods’ first one-on-one interview with The Golf Channel and ESPN. He also he announced his Masters comeback on the opening day of the NCAA tournament.

Coincidences? Hardly, but don't try selling this strategy to his critics.

“He’s still hiding!” say the pundits. “He should have bared all right away!” “Why didn’t he go on Oprah?” "Get him a deal with Kleenex!" “His PR people should be banished to Antarctica!”

I couldn’t disagree more.

Tiger’s PR team has deftly handled a brutal situation with the most difficult of clients and here are four reasons why:

They “know” the client – Tiger Woods was never a media darling and when he did give a quote, anyone could visibly see he hated the whole process. The critics argue this means Tiger’s PR has been horrible for years. They're Wrong! This is an egotistical guy, filled with a sense ot entitlement, set in his ways, who also really hates reporters. That’s a personality issue – not PR. A smart publicist isn’t going to try to change a superstar’s personality, so those who were expecting a cry-fest on Oprah are delusional.

But they didn’t “know” exactly what he did – There is no way Tiger could have kept his trysts a secret this long if more than a few special “friends” knew about it. I don’t think the PR team knew most of what was going on and were legitimately concerned about what was on the horizon. I KNOW they didn’t read the steamy texts prior to his car accident. Unlike the “yo babe” meatball you’ll see on Saturday night at the Iguana Club, super-rich guys don’t brag about conquests – and in Vegas (Tiger’s favorite haunt), people are paid big bucks to keep stuff like that quiet. So when the Rachel Uchitel story came out, Tiger’s PR team figured it was the tip of the iceberg. Biting your lip is tough, but having 10 more women dispute a rapid-response, “bare-all” mea culpa would have been downright disastrous.

They avoided the circus and responded calmly – Tiger’s PR team was dealing with financially ambitious party girls, porn stars and a Perkins waitress – that’s not exactly a stable group of corporate people. Think I’m unfairly stereotyping? Well, so far, the porn star hired Gloria Allred and went on a media tour; Rachel Uchitel’s new agent got her a gig as an entertainment reporter; one mistress appeared on a reality show and at least one more is seeking one. Sometimes it’s best to let bad news with shock value take most of its course - especially when it's connected to questionable people. Yes, that kind of discipline is hard. Yes, it’s embarrassing. But in this case, I’d rather have an organized, disciplined response in place than be forced to change a client’s story half-way through a seedy circus. Or go tit-for-tat in the National Enquirer with a porn star. I'm sure the mistresses will do everything they can to keep themselves relevant, but meanwhile, Tiger's set a clear course. And getting back "on the course" will change the conversation soon enough.

Great behind the scenes moves probably saved the one sponsor that really matters – Tiger’s worth about $500 million, so losing a few endorsements is hardly going to wreck his life. And he didn’t lose sponsors because of bad PR – he lost them from bad behavior. The PR team recognized an impending blood bath and smartly got Tiger focused on quietly apologizing to the big dogs like Nike. After all, Nike is the sponsor that made him the most money of all. AT&T, who dropped Tiger, sells phones, not golf equipment and sports clothes like Nike does. Tiger will eventually start winning majors again, and Nike was no doubt reminded that their best-selling line of products will start selling big again too...if it hasn't already.