Tiger Woods’ on-again, off-again relationship with Golf Digest is once again off — and this time it may be for good.
Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest’s editor-in-chief, told the New York Post that after the February issue, Woods’ regular column will no longer appear in the magazine.
“Golf Digest and Tiger Woods have mutually agreed to stop his monthly bylined articles,” Tarde said. “His last regular column will appear in the February 2011 issue of Golf Digest, at which time he will also leave the masthead. We appreciate the insights Tiger has provided to our readers.”
According to the paper, Woods has been on the Golf Digest masthead for 14 years.
Golf Digest had been paying the world’s biggest golf star a reported $1 million annually to pen the column and provide the magazine with exclusive photos.
After Woods’ mistress-behaving ways came to light last year amid an epic sex scandal, Golf Digest suspended the column — but brought it back in August following the golfer’s rehabilitation and self-imposed hiatus from golf.
“We have had a long-term exclusive relationship with Tiger that stretches back to his first year as a professional,” a Golf Digest spokesman said at the time. “He’s back playing regularly now, so we have mutually agreed to publish his bylined pieces on a monthly basis.”
You’ll recall that due to a lag in production schedules, Golf Digest published a Woods cover for its January 2010 issue with “10 Tips Obama Can Take From Tiger” (Tip #1: Never leave your cellphone unoccupied in the White House while having multiple extramarital affairs).
The Tiger-Obama issue hit newsstands in December, less than a month after the golfer slammed his Escalade into a tree in his Florida driveway, setting off a media frenzy that ended with a series of bizarre press conferences — and the dissolution of his marriage.
Woods' second round with Golf Digest lasted just six issues.
