Ok this really is my last post on Tiger ... at least until he returns.

In short, it was smart for him to take a leave from professional golf.  It was his only option, really.  He needs to get his life sorted out before he can begin to rehabilitate his image.  Hopefully, he'll repair the marital damage, get his life in order, and then come back to golf as a more humbled, contrite, and open person.

I know his instinct will be to become more reclusive and removed from the media and his fans upon his return, but it's the wrong one.  Part of what got him in this mess is that he's been so isolated and distant from the press and public that it had created this insatiable curiosity about his private life.  Yes, he has a right to privacy.  But it's foolhardy to think that there isn't interest in his private life.  As Bill Simmons put it, this guy spends more time in our living rooms than our spouses, yet we know nothing about it him.  And when he crashed his car and the mistresses started coming out, the dam of curiosity broke.  It was the first time we got to seeing anything remotely personal about the guy, and we couldn't look away. 

Tiger should take the opposite approach and let us in a little.  Tear a page from Phil Mickelson's book and let it out a bit:  talk about what went wrong, explain what it's like to be Tiger Woods, ask for forgiveness and move on.  The American public are amazingly forgiving.  When he comes back he'll start winning tournaments again, no doubt.  He's the greatest golfer of all time, and that probably won't change.  In fact, this will probably make him better because he'll work doubly hard to regain his perch.  He loves to prove everyone wrong, and he'll take out his frustration on the golf course.

America lovers winners.  If Tiger wins, and seems to have his life together, all of this will be a footnote.  Look at A-Rod: the guy cheated on his wife, took steroids ... and has a World Series ring.  And he's a hero again.  Tiger will be a winner again.  Let's hope he's a bit more open and honest, too.