Does golf need Tiger Woods more than Tiger Woods needs golf?
Close observers of the big tournaments during his absence say it has been a bit like bread without yeast or cola without fizz.
His very presence brings a lift.
Now he’s back, the buzz is a bit louder. That means the flow of the money is faster, and golf needs it badly at this particular moment.
First, television contracts in America are to be renegotiated from next year, and clearly Tiger Woods’ return ups the asking price to the networks like CBS and NBC.
Second, financial services and carmakers, two of the industries which were big takers of the hospitality tents at the majors, are in the dumps - and stay-at-home executives don’t spend money.
Tarnished brand
Tiger Woods expanded golf way beyond the confines of the golf course.
On the best figures, tournaments in which he played got double the television audiences of those from which he was absent.
In the wake of that, golf expanded on the television schedules, with programmes created just to feature Tiger Woods.
He earned fabulously too. He made $127m (£83m) in the last full year before his fall, including $24m in prize money and over $100m from companies like Nike, Gatorade and Buick, according to Sports Illustrated.
Tiger Woods also took the rest of the sport up on his coat tails.
Fifteen years ago, only nine golfers earned $1m a year - last year 91 golfers did.
So golf needs Tiger and Tiger needs golf. But his brand value has clearly diminished.
Plummeting ratings
Davie Brown Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, measures the worth of sports stars as brands by continually asking focus groups to rate them on eight measures including whether people trust them or aspire to be like them.
It does this because it does deals between sports stars and film and television companies to marry the star to the brand in product placement.
Its clients include Pepsi, Cisco, Harley Davidson and HP.
After the scandals, Tiger Woods’ rating plummeted, particularly for trust and the aspirational element.
Davie Brown’s president, Tom Meyer, told BBC World Service’s Business Daily: "His aspiration score dropped 40%.
“I think that is the most telling sign of the tumble of Tiger Woods. It’s a huge, huge drop. When we work for brands, brands look at this.”
Flawed role model
So, no easy comeback for Tiger as a brand.
“His marketability is shot, and it will be shot for a certain period of time,” says Tom Meyer.
“The American public has a fairly short memory but the difference here is that he didn’t just have one affair.”
The brands that have stayed with Tiger Woods, according to his website, tend to be high-end luxury ‘if-you’ve-got-it-flaunt-it’ products such as expensive watches, private jets or a resort in Dubai.
There are also products with a male image such as razors, or sports goods manufacturer Nike, which relies on success on the field not failings off it.
“He’ll probably have more marketability to categories that are closer to his job, the things that are golf related,” adds Tom Meyer.
“It’s going to be a while before you see an Accenture or an AT&T-type relationship.”
“There’ll be a sports drink. Brands that are endemic to the space he plays in.”
"Unfortunately it’s going to make the general public very wary of who they consider their role models in the future. And I think that’s sad."This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.