Alan Middleton, professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business, has made several comments on Tiger Woods' recent attempts to overhaul his tarnished image as a sports icon. He spoke to the Globe and Mail about the fallen golf star's efforts on April 6.

He stood stone still at the first tee of Augusta National, drew his club back in a wide arc and then promptly ripped the ball 75 yards left of the fairway. Yet there were no obscenities. There was no look of disgust or throwing of equipment. There was nothing, frankly, resembling Tiger Woods.

Yesterday, in his first news conference since revelations of his affairs surfaced last fall, Woods preached humility and contrition, and promised he was working hard to reinvent himself: not just at home, but on the course as well.

Woods is trying to win over audiences following a sex scandal that has destroyed his public image. And that means curbing the fiery outbursts is essential, says Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business. “He’s got to come across as a contrite, normal human being,” he said.

Other articles about Woods in which Middleton is cited are available here and here.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – York University’s daily e-bulletin.