Dear Mr. Woods:

I’ve been unintentionally following your private life, and I wanted to apologize. Based on what I’ve been exposed to, it’s clear that you have your hands full with marital and family challenges. But being that the public at-large has become polarized—choosing to either join the bashing band wagon or to commend you for your womanizing—and also being that I have no shortage of opinion, I wanted to weigh-in.

Firstly, I wanted to applaud your initial silence and “bowing out” of providing a public apology. As a 17-year marketing veteran, I could plainly see the need for crisis management. And if I were your PR consultant, I would have been BEGGING you to issue a public statement and to “control the spin” right from the start. However, as a man, father and husband, I can only say that your silence was respected—and your televised (and largely scripted) apology unnecessary. After all, you just caused potentially irreparable damage to your marriage, and your efforts belong there, fixing it… not giving an apology to people you don’t know and have never met. You are a professional athlete… nothing more. I marvel at your exploits on the golf course, but you don’t owe me an explanation of why you aren’t faithful to your wife. That explanation is due to her, not me, not to your fans, and not to the public.

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