Woods Admits Bad Behavior

Tiger Woods today issued a statement on his Web site following mounting tabloid reports of extramarital affairs, saying he regrets "those transgressions with all of my heart."

Woods: "I have let my family down. ... I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. ... I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology."

Woods specifically mentioned that the stories saying physical violence played a role in his car accident early last Friday morning "were utterly false and malicious." He indicated that he does not plan to comment any further on the matter, despite continued calls for him to clear the air.

Woods: "For me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions. Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone."

Following the statement being issued, CNBC's Erin Burnett said Woods is “beloved by men and women, athletes and non-athletes in no small part due to his reputation for incredible discipline, hard work and character.” Burnett: “No matter what he does in the future, that image changes. So there is a real brand question here.”

CNBC's Darren Rovell: "What I've been told -- and so far we've had various stages of comment, no comment from the companies -- certainly, there's no dropping him. But it impacts him in that he was seen as the perfect man, the perfect golfer, and he is no longer that. I think a lot is going to depend on when he does come back to golf, how good is he. That's going to be important for Nike Golf. But at the same time, there is a little bit of a brand hit. It will depend on how good he is in golf, and right now it looks like a disaster. Over time we'll see how corporations feel they have to respond in this."

ESPN’s Jason Sobel reports Woods’ sponsors are “all standing by him, whether it’s Gatorade, AT&T, Nike, Gillette." Sobel: "Whether that will continue in the future remains to be seen. I think a lot of that has to do with how fans and how the mainstream media react to what Tiger Woods has admitted."

Reuters’ Ben Klayman wrote on his Twitter account, “Nike stands by Tiger, saying relationship unchanged, & Gillette says not making any changes to existing marketing programs at this time.”

EA Sports President Peter Moore, whose company is "one of Woods' largest sponsors," yesterday said, "Our strong relationship with Tiger for more than a decade remains unchanged. We wish Tiger a fast recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the golf course."

In Toronto, Dave Perkins writes whether Woods' sponsors "give him a Mulligan here remains to be seen."

ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski wrote of Woods, "To think he owes us an explanation because we buy the golf shoes he pitches is naive. ... Now then, if he wants to tell, say, Nike [Chair] Phil Knight what happened that morning, OK, that makes sense. The tens of millions that Knight and others pay Tiger to endorse their products give them the right to at least ask for an explanation. But it doesn't guarantee they'll get an answer."

In DC, Ruth Marcus: "Certainly, sponsors get to take the public figure's conduct into account in deciding whether they want his endorsement. But does pocketing $1[B] mean you are obliged to ante up intimate personal details?"

In Cincinnati, Paul Daugherty: "When you're taking millions from Gillette/Buick/Nike/Whoever, to project an image, those who buy the image deserve an honest accounting of who you are, not who you claim to be."

Read more about Tiger Woods’ problems by clicking here.

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