Florida:
Tiger Woods says he has let his family down and regrets "those transgressions with all of my heart."
In a statement Wednesday on his Website, Woods says he has not been "true to my values and the behavior my family deserves."
He offered his "profound apology" to his supporters.
His comments came after US Weekly magazine published a cover story alleging that a Los Angeles cocktail waitress had a 31-month affair with the world's No. 1 golfer.
Now that Tiger's image as a loving husband and father has been shattered, industry experts are wondering what effect will this have on his endorsements.
"The events of the past week are certainly going to tarnish his image. But what that means for Tiger in terms of the money he makes, I don't think it has any effect, I mean he is locked in to long term agreements with a lot of corporate sponsors, makes a hundred million (US) dollars off the courts from his golf courts design business, and from his endorsement deals," said Kurt Badenhausen, Associate Editor of Forbes magazine.
Woods has been a sponsors dream ever since he signed his first contract with Nike even before he turned pro in 1996. He's been names Forbes richest sportsperson for this entire decade.
In 2008 his earning were estimated at 100 million dollars. He currently has 13 sponsors including Gillette, Gatorade and Tag Heuer.
So far the sponsors have stood by him but when its time to renew the contracts it might be a different story.
After all who would have imagined that somebody who was a child prodigy, would go 33 years of his life without a single controversy only to have it all ruined in a week.