And with his spectacular fall from grace his fellow players will never be quite so deferential to this most single minded of superstars.
But this is also a story of appalling media management, dating back years.
The hunted finally met the hunters this week as Woods gave his first press conference to the media since his car crash. The press conference was handled so well by Woods I am amazed it was not done earlier.
The staged press call in front of a handpicked audience in February was desperately wooden and heavily criticised for not inviting the media. Perhaps he needed to do this formal apology first for his wife's benefit but not in front of a phoney audience which seemed to compound a perception of weakness. The last thing he ever should have done.
Woods needed to do this week's press conference sooner. At long last he is managing the media properly. He came in, took all the difficult questions, gave the media plenty of time and was honest and open.
Gone were the excruciating apologies of the stage managed press event. This was a real press call which gave him room to start setting the record straight, correct inaccuracies and begin the process of moving on. No doubt his success was down to meticulous preparation and training but Woods now knows that performing for the media requires diligence, practice and a heavy dose of respect.
But there really is something to learn here for professionals with a dim view of the media. I have blogged before on these pages about the lack of respect some senior people give to the media. As Woods has found you underestimate the power of the media at your peril. It is the most powerful influence on the world today.
Media management is not about PR puff - it is about accurately and positively representing yourself and your organisation. Woods has never grasped that with any enthusiasm or passion before. He conspicuously failed to apply the same professionalism and intelligence to the media as he did to his golf.
As with other skilled professionals I've observed he derided the media because he did not understand it, did not respect it and did not want to understand it. And to what terrible cost!
If only someone had been able to pierce his hubristic carapace before his downfall and explain to him that he was getting it wrong. The bad temper, the defensiveness, the swearing and spitting on the fairway, the refusal to sign autographs, the refusal to drop his guard in press conferences, his lack of any meaningful relationship with the media. These factors were appallingly misjudged from a man who became too arrogant. And ultimately his lack of media awareness caught him, well, with his pants down.
When he really needed to understand how to manage the media he floundered and retreated into secrecy and silence while the media firestorm burned out of control. He will not be the last to misjudge the importance of PR.
Nevertheless, watching this week's fascinating press conference Woods appears to have finally learnt from his chastening experience at the hands of the media he thought he was above. And what a transformation. Meticulous preparation, a positive upbeat tone, a smiling, good- humoured, honest, open, helpful, talkative delivery - by George I think he's got it. Is that the sound of the giant door to the sporting pantheon creaking ever so gently open again? By the end of this week's Masters we will know a lot more. Could there even be tears of joy again when he returns to Hoylake for the Open in 2014?

Ben Pinnington is director of Wirral PR firm Artemis Media