All posts by Jeff Esposito and Mike Schaffer

Examining Tiger’s Masters Return

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, chances are that you’ve heard the sports news that has also made its way into the gossip rags and morning talk shows – Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA tour at the Masters.

While the return of the world’s top golfer will help the Tour’s ratings, it also marks an interesting event for the media. In his public apology spoken press release, Woods did not field any questions and has not answered any questions about his marital infidelity.  So while we’d like to say that the media will stick to the tournament at hand, drama sells and the opportunities for juicy questions and an irate golfer are some must-see TV in the making.

But hey, you don’t come to this blog to read about sports or infidelity so let’s get to the root of Tiger’s return to the PGA at Augusta National as a PR move – one that is safe, nostalgic and was strategically planned.  Much like a CEO, Woods is advised by some top notch PR folks who carefully chose when he would return to golf. Given the course’s history, importance and pageantry, the Masters is an intriguing choice for Tiger.  Our two in-house Sports PR experts don’t agree with each other on this topic: