Professional golfer  Tiger Woods will make his first public appearance since his sex scandal broke in December 2009. In the days after his now-famous car accident on Thanksgiving, no less than 15 women came forward to say they had had sexual relations with the married father of two. Woods made a few statements through his Web site and then disappeared from ad campaigns, TV and golf greens.

Todd Templin, executive vice president of South Florida public relations agency Boardroom Communications, told a radio audience on Feb. 18, 2010, that it’s time for Tiger to come clean: “Tiger needs to answer whatever questions he can, and those he can’t, he should say so. This will help put an end to things. If he doesn’t do this, he’ll be dogged on the course and off for the rest of the year.”

Tiger’s rapid fall from public idol to the most famous wife cheater in the world was hastened by his lack of communication. Rather than face the crisis head on, he hid, leaving media outlets to speculate on his morals and fans to question their faith.  This goes against the grain of what reputation management crisis communications consultants preach to their clients who get into hot water.

Other athletes and public figures can take away many lessons from how Tiger mishandled the global media coverage. We posted on Tiger and how we handle crisis communications in early December and later that month.

Templin was  interviewed Feb. 18 on the Tiger Woods situation on Miami radio station WQAM 560, just one day before Woods’ scheduled press conference. Radio show host Will Manso asked Templin what Tiger will likely say and what he should say.

“Tiger will do what everyone expects: apologize to his wife, fans and sponsors for his behavior,” Templin said. “He will say he’s only human and that he sought help for issues he might have. He will say he knows he let people down and he’s sorry for that.”

To try to end talk of the scandal, Tiger will say it’s time to  focus on the future, Templin told the radio audience. “He will talk about his golf schedule for the coming year, but he probably will not take any questions.”

“If this all he does and his wife does not appear at the press conference, people will see through Tiger,” Templin told listeners. “The way he’s handling it is typical of Tiger — a highly controlled format with no opportunities to question him.

“Frankly, I believe he needs to do a full press conference ala Alex Rodriguez. When the New York Yankee answered questions about steroid use, he had his teammates around him and he took questions from the media.”