Maximum mea culpa

The de facto position as "CEO of golf", attained as a result of his skills, should have warned Tiger that he could never possibly have kept quiet the type of extracurricular activities in which he seems to have systematically engaged.

Nevertheless, the response to their exposure should have been the same as, not different form, those driven by his unsuccessful attempt to protect his family and his brand. Nothing could have possibly have succeeded on all fronts but prompt and complete disclosure, together with a maximum mea culpa, would have provided the the shortest half life to the scandal and at least a modestly reduced number of columns and a slight mitigation of the criticism.

But the best defense by far would have been not to have offended.