Hitting a small white ball great distances with uncanny accuracy has made Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods a sports legend. His exotic good looks, easy charm and ubiquitous presence as the corporate pitch-man of choice for Nike, Gillette, Accenture, Gatorade and other corporations eager to be associated with his fairway heroics have made him fabulously rich. A full two-thirds of his nearly billion-dollar fortune has come from endorsements.

Now, as the entire world knows, Mr. Woods has shanked one into the rough. His early morning SUV-crash and domestic dispute quickly unraveled into a series of tawdry revelations of alleged trysts with cocktail waitresses, Las Vegas marketing agents, club promoters and other women of easy virtue. This, of course, unleashed a deluge of tabloid-style media coverage and water-cooler debate over: How badly will this hurt Tiger? Is he handling the crisis correctly? And for the deep thinkers, Does Tiger deserve his privacy?

Financially, Tiger will be wounded but certainly not destroyed by his "transgressions." As Gatorade's Jeff Urban put it (pre-scandal), "Professional golf without Tiger Woods is like Hollywood without a leading man." This is Too-Big-to-Fail with golf cleats. Golf desperately needs Tiger Woods and today's corporate sponsors don't dump scandalized mega-stars unless they have: committed a serious crime, offended a powerful interest-group, or acted in a way wholly inconsistent with their personal brand. While Tiger stands for integrity, the far greater emphasis is on performance. In a "Just Win, Baby" culture, Tiger still represents success. His mostly male, youth-oriented audience will still flock to see Tiger play and line up for Tiger-endorsed merchandise.

As for his handling of the whole messy affair, one is reminded of Henry Kissinger's observation that "Whatever will come out eventually must come out immediately." This is not to suggest he should have held a teary-eyed, confess-everything press conference. Nor, is it a naïve expectation that he could have fed the media-beast once and sent it on its way. Rather, it is now pretty clear that he either knew—or should have—that a string of YouTube bimbo-eruptions were imminent. Sure, a containment strategy is often a plausible approach. But not when you are as famous as Jesus, as John Lennon once observed, and payback is as easy as a leaked voicemail message. Celebrity is non-negotiable. Arguments over whether Tiger Woods has a "right to his privacy" are moot given at age two he appeared on national television trading putts with comedian Bob Hope and has dedicated his considerable energies to enriching himself through global notoriety. Paparazzi aren't a moral question; they are an implacable reality.

At present, Tiger's best option is to continue to lay low. In time, he can do the requisite sit-down with "60 Minutes," ease back onto the tour, and regain some degree of normalcy. But, for now, his biggest challenge is less PR than holding together whatever remains of his tattered marriage and his relationship with his two young children. Funny how family becomes the most important thing, once you realize what you have done to imperil it.