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Tiger Woods named AP Athlete of the Decade

The cad of the year has just been named Athlete of the Decade.

Tiger Woods – who insisted golf came second to family just days before the lie unraveled in a relentless stream of adulterous affairs – was named Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press

Any other time, even a month earlier, the honor would have been another jewel in the King of Golf’s crown.

But with a scandal that has generated endless headlines, family heartache and an uncertain future for him and the sport, the award is an ignominious irony that even his Nike handlers can’t spin.

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It’s safe to say that Woods won’t be stepping out to accept the trophy and hoist it over his head like he has so many times after magnificent golf tournaments.

Instead, Tiger is said to be licking his wounds, taking a break from the game that made him a household name to try to repair his fractured family.

Woods has not been seen since the accident, and has issued only three statements on his Web site, one of which admitted to “infidelity.”

AP members who announced the selection today made it clear that the honor was more about Woods’ decade of outstanding athleticism that it was about the dozen or more women with whom he gallivanted off the golf course.

And like so many of his victories, the contest wasn’t even close.

Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors since last month. More than half of the ballots came back after the Nov. 27 car accident outside his Florida home that opened the lid on a scandal that made readers and television viewers forget about David Letterman, baseball analyst Steve Phillips and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

Among the athletes Tiger beat out for the prize were seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Grand Slam singles tennis king Roger Federer and Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps.

Rumors that Armstrong was doping up and pictures of Phelps taking a hit on a bong were nothing compared to the storm that has swirled around Tiger.

With women coming out of the Woods-work, and stories that say he paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money, Tiger’s popularity dropped faster than any non-politician in the history of public polling.

Woods won 12 major titles this decade to go along with the two he won in the 90s. He is four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods finished the decade with $81,547,410 in earnings from his PGA Tour events, an average of $482,529 per tournament.