Woods had not put a foot wrong in public life since he emerged as the greatest player the game has seen nearly a decade ago. He was from a solid, middle-class family, with a father figure who was a perfect mentor. His sense of self-discipline was unmatched in the sporting world and he was always charming.
Tiger was machine-like in the way he went about his business. Occasionally, there was a sign of ill-temper when the golf ball didn't do what it was told (there is now speculation that the mood swings could have been as a result of prescription drugs).
Generally, though, Tiger Woods Inc was a well-oiled machine with endorsements only an all-American, handsome lad like him could have attracted.
This week, Tiger Woods must be wishing he was not a master of the universe. Like the fictional Tom Wolfe character in Bonfire Of The Vanities, who disintegrated as a human being, our real-life sporting master is doing the same before our very eyes.
Today he is publicly disgraced, locked inside his home with an enraged, sad and embittered wife and two young children. From a public relations point of view, it is a very, very long journey back.The backlash against the media invasion of his privacy has started. Greg Norman has said big sporting stars should be allowed to have a private life away from the spotlight.
Radio commentator Alan Jones said he believed Tiger deserved to be left alone. "After all, these women all knew he was married," he said. They have missed the point. While most media commentators are not angels themselves, they have every right to continue to uncover the trail of destruction Tiger Woods left behind with little regard for anyone but himself.
Norman, Jones et al have overlooked that so far 11 alleged mistresses have come forward and there is the promise of more. This is not a one-off. The women reflect, by the nature of their work, a behavioural pattern in the world's best golfer that must be disturbing to those who have placed their trust in him for so long.
Norman is one who believes that sportsmen should not attract media scrutiny of their private lives - that they are not public figures. That is a nonsense. Tiger Woods and Norman are not your everyday knockabouts.
Most of us do not seek to earn $900 million from endorsements. Most of us have not been singled out by massive corporations to sell products to people who trust Tiger Woods or Greg Norman. Most of us have not put ourselves on such a lofty pedestal that we command millions of dollars just to turn up at an event.
Take the marital issues out of the equation and look at Tiger Woods, the brand. He tells us we should trust his watch maker, his shaver and his sports drink because he uses them. We must use Nike golf clubs because they never let you down.
But the very person endorsing these most lofty of brands is not someone we can trust anymore. Those minders who have protected his lifestyle for so long must now be wondering how on earth Woods can ever come back from here.
They, too, have a lot to answer for. These are the men we are told set up a cordon of protection around Tiger that allegedly included lining him up with a legion of women over a long period and guarding his image so zealously that they fooled almost all of us.
Even more alarming is that if Elin Woods hadn't called 911, we might not know now. The myth would have gone on and we would have continued to look like naive fools in love with the idea that a sportsman and superstar could actually be nearly perfect.
That Elin Woods may stay is a matter for her. Whether we, as Tiger's former disciples, keep adoring him is the question that really matters. We forgave Shane Warne and didn't think we could. But Tiger is not nearly as likable or imperfect as Warnie always was - we loved Woods for very different reasons.
Can we forgive a bloke who built a reputation on perfection? The love affair Woods has had with us, his adoring public, was based on what we now know was myth. He was never really who he appeared to be. Spin doctors and public relations minders can try their guts out to mend his reputation but Tiger Woods has knocked the stuffing out of himself.
Tiger, the man, will never be fully redeemed.
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