Tiger Wood's recent woes illustrate how silly its become to distinguish between NBC and the National Enquirer. Both are covering the story in exactly the same way and with the same ferocity. Meanwhile evil, conspiring men seek to hijack the world economy for their personal benefit, riding the fiction of global warming--move on, no story here.

Nevertheless, its hard to feel sorry for a guy who essentially makes his living off of the nation's collective obsession with the lives of people who display superlative skill at children's games. His 100 million a year income from sponsors like Nike is based solely on this strange hero worship.

Understanding that the public image is the cash cow, why would Woods jeopardize everything he has to have sex with women not as attractive as his own wife? Self-esteem problems?

Well, I doubt we'll ever get an answer to that eternal question, but more interesting is the news that Wood's lawyers are negotiating with Elin, or more likely with her legal representation, to renegotiate the prenuptial agreement as an inducement for her to stay in the marriage.

“The links legend's spouse is reportedly being paid a hefty seven-figure amount — immediately transferred into an account she alone controls — to stick with her husband,” Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker reported. He goes on to write that Elin demanded and is getting a total rewrite of the couple’s prenuptial agreement. The couple wed in 2004 and have two children.

Reportedly, the couple had an agreement that stipulated they must remain married for 10 years in order for Elin to collect a settlement of $20 million, and that is the part of the settlement being negotiated.

If she stays two years, she doubles the payout of the original prenup. If she stays seven, she quintuples it.

This is what I call a rock and a hard place for Elin. If she takes the money, she's effectively saying the marriage is ended and she'll whore-it-out for two or seven years. Tiger is going to know it as well, and thus feel free to resume his extra-marital life-style. Now she's the wronged wife, but after this deal, she becomes a very unsympathetic character who might well have a difficult time living with herself in spite of her tainted gains.

From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense--from a personal point-of-view, Elin would probably be better of taking the 20 million (which is a LOT of money) and keep her dignity.

Tiger has screwed up his life beyond repair no matter what happens. It. wouldn't be far from the truth to say that Tiger has lost his soul. He should ask himself if all these women he's been sleeping with would be sleeping with him if he wasn't one of the highest paid athletes in the world. With the dissolution of his marriage, perhaps only his mother will still love him for himself. Tiger will be a sort of Gollum--a vessel for the commercially viable image with no independent identity.

Sounds like a horror story. A modern American life.