Tiger Woods Tops Most Disliked Athlete Poll Two Years After Scandal

Ah, Tiger Woods- it’s hard to imagine a more spectacularly rapid decline in the eyes of fans and spectators.

When news first broke that Woods had crashed his SUV near his home and rumors followed that his wife had domestically assaulted him, the golf legend was pretty much flying high. But just days later, basically every woman in America came forward with a story of dirty, dirty sexcapades with Woods and his good guy image was replaced with one of a relentless tang chaser.

That was more than two years ago, but Woods has never even marginally recovered from the fallout. Failing to recover his mojo seems to be only in part due to his sex scandal, though- the OC Register recently ran a piece about why golf fans “hate” Woods, and the responses were added to a slideshow along with other athlete-villains, like Michael Vick.

While Vick demonstrated a shocking degree of insouciance when it comes to the health and welfare of dogs- generally a sensitive topic for fans- Woods’ infidelities seemed to strike nearly as strong as a chord. The article explains:

“…But it’s also safe to say that many people were turned off by Woods’ wild off-the-course behavior, including the admitted serial infidelity that led to his divorce. I also think he is more well-known now among non-golf fans – it’s called notoriety – because of what he went through. Even if he doesn’t win another tournament, he will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time. But, sadly, he might also be remembered more for what brought down his career than his remarkable achievements on the course.”

As Woods was at a natural ebb in his career, it may be that he never fully recovers from the scandal- in the comments, readers still bitterly air grievances about being “sold” one image while they felt the golfer maintained another. Did learning of Tiger Woods’ salacious private life turn you off to his skills on the green?