Five years after his personal life unraveled, Tiger Woods has made an unmatched public relations and financial recovery.
On the five-year anniversary of Woods' announcement of an indefinite leave of absence from golf to try to save his marriage, Reuters reported Thursday on his rehabilitation and pursuit of his second billion dollars.
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"The second billion will be there for him," former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who now runs his own sports consulting firm, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
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Reuters added that Woods was the first athlete to reach the $1 billion mark in 2009, as reported by Forbes, just two months before his car crash revealed a personal life wrought with infidelity with then-wife Elin Nordgren.
However, the report indicated that Woods' pursuit of the next $1 billion likely will be done without the driving force behind his first billion - winning golf tournaments.
"Tiger will continue to try to mount a (golf) comeback, but both age and the deep competition will make it difficult for him to win," sports business author Andrew Zimbalist told Reuters.
"He obviously has settled down in his personal life and, part of this, is planning for his future. Business pursuits and his foundation will play a growing role."
Woods has 79 PGA Tour wins and 14 majors - his majors drought entering its seventh year as he chases Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.
His first tournament from missing the summer because of back surgery, Woods finished 26 strokes behind Jordan Spieth at the Hero World Challenge in Windermere, Fla., last week.
"I didn't hit the ball as well I would like, the short game was awful, but it's a good sign I played four straight days and there was no pain," he told CNN.
But Woods no longer needs his dominance on the course to expand his financial empire.
"If you look at Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, I think they all make substantially more money today than they were making playing golf," Pilson said said. "The business opportunities open to Tiger would probably dwarf the other guys."
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