Tiger’s multiple birdies have flown off with his reputation.
His scandal-weary fans are furious at their one-time hero — who has spent his entire career creating the image of a perfect family man.
As the carefully constructed image that netted Tiger Woods a billion dollars’ worth of endorsement income collapses, experts say the next blow he takes will be to his wallet.
The latest numbers show his “favorable” rating plunged from 84 percent this past June to the current 60 percent, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released yesterday.
And his “unfavorable” rating soared higher than an eagle — from 9 percent to 25 percent.
“This crisis is deepening for him. His brands are huddling and hunkering down and are going to have to rethink how to reposition him in their marketing mix in 2010,” said Michael Neuman, of the Manhattan-based consulting firm Amplify Sports and Entertainment.
So far, Woods hasn’t lost any accounts.
His hard-core sponsors, including Nike and Gatorade, will likely stick with him because they’ve invested so much, Neuman said.
But he cautioned that the money may no longer be as easy to make as a 6-inch putt.
“The compensation from the past, I don’t think he will get to that level for a long time, if it ever gets there at all,” Neuman said.
Especially worrisome are reports that Tiger is offering hush money to his mistresses, Neuman said.
Before the scandal, Woods, who presented a focused, family-man image, was looking at lifetime earnings of $5 billion, estimated Robert Tuchman, vice president of consulting firm Premiere Global Sports.
Meanwhile, another damaging poll found that when people talk about Woods, who has two children with his betrayed beauty, Elin Nordegren, it is mainly to trash the champ.
“We’ve seen a more dramatic shift in the data we’ve been monitoring, a negative buzz,” said Ann Green, of the market-research firm Millward Brown.
Before the scandal, the firm’s online polls found just 2 percent of people spoke negatively of Woods. That jumped to 80 percent, according to data collected from hundreds of participants between Dec. 3 and 4.
“Marketers need to be concerned about a transference of negative perception,” Green said.
For instance, Woods collected $2 million in 2002 for switching his wristwatch endorsement from Rolex to Tag Heuer.
But wives and girlfriends thinking of shelling out thousands of bucks for a luxury timepiece may start having second thoughts when its most famous public face is a serial philanderer.
In an ominous development, NBC’s World Challenge golf tournament last Saturday didn’t include a single commercial featuring Woods — when typically, there is at least one for every commercial break during the three-hour event.
And another revelation, from Life & Style magazine yesterday, probably won’t help matters. It reported that Playgirl rep Daniel Nardicio says the online magazine has gotten photos purportedly showing a naked Tiger.
“We’re currently trying to authenticate the photos before we make any decisions on purchasing the Tiger Woods pics and ascertaining the value,” Nardicio said.
Although Woods’ sponsors are sticking by him so far, everyday golfers don’t think that will last.
“He’s not the hope and prodigy anymore because he doesn’t have the wholesome image,” said Rosanna Lam, who was shopping at Golfsmith on the East Side.
“I assume they’ll think twice about having him sponsor their products.”
Former Woods fans turned to his own Web site to vent their anger.
“I want my money back from Nike for all of this useless garbage that I have spent my hard-earned money on for the past 10 years!” one person wrote on his message board. “They put this person out there and we bought it, and now it turns out he is a lying.”