So much for smooth sailing in the Tiger Woods public relations department. Rough waters have appeared on the horizon.

In my October column, I related my evolving impression of Tiger Woods, and the fact that as time passes, it seemed he was becoming more refined in both his on and off-course behavior. There were fewer condescending comments toward his fellow professionals, a few less arm pumps each round, less audible profanity over a sub-Tiger shot, and the huge ego which perceived the popularity of 'Fluff', Tiger's first Tour caddy, as competition worthy of a divorce, was beginning to show signs of mellowing.

It was satisfying to see that his accomplishments on the golf course were becoming less endangered of being tainted by some of these unattractive and ill-advised miscues.

I was wrong.

During the month of November, and in no particular order:

Tiger was so upset with not winning the American Express Championship at Valderrama, that he promised "never to return". It seemed he was going to 'take his ball and go home'. That is, whichever ball he had left after depositing numerous shots during the week into the pond guarding the front of Valderrama's infamous par 5 17th hole. Sure, the design of the green may have been unfair and seemingly good shots ended up wet, but tell it to Mike Weir. He found a way to deal with it, and walked away with the title and a million dollars for his efforts.

Because of his appearance in television commercials on behalf of his sponsors, Tiger is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. In spite of the SAG being out on strike for most of this year, Tiger went ahead anyway and participated in a commercial for Buick. He was subsequently fined $100,000 by the SAG, and in the process no doubt turned a great number of his union brothers against him.

While participating in the Johnnie Walker Classic tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, a group of peaceful protestors appealed to Woods to use his influence as a 'sports hero', and speak to Nike on their behalf regarding working conditions within Nike factories in their country. Woods is sponsored by Nike and his mother is Thai. He ignored the protestors and walked past them in silence.

Perhaps the biggest indication of just how the public 'may' perceive Tiger Woods as considering himself to be the 'center of the golf universe' with all things dimpled revolving around him, is the fact that he recently publicly stated that he feels that, not only is the PGA Tour "exploiting him", but he should receive a portion of the Tour television revenues because ratings increase when he is playing in a televised event.

He may feel the PGA Tour is exploiting him, but to the average working person struggling to make ends meet, it may appear that he has done a pretty good job himself of exploiting the Tour to become an extremely wealthy young man.

Regarding his receiving a portion of television broadcasting revenues, I don't believe he stated that revenues should be 'shared' among 'all players' in the event. Only 'he' should receive a piece of the pie.

By coincidence, the day after Tiger's opinion was made public, the father of the tennis William's sisters claimed that his daughters should also be receiving a cut of television revenues.

Tiger doesn't like the fact the Tour uses his name to advertise an upcoming event in which he is scheduled to play, or for that matter he also doesn't like any advertisement congratulating him for winning a tournament. The problem seems to be that of 'perceived association' by the public.

As an example, one of Tiger's current sponsor's is Buick. When Tiger's image appears in promotional materials for an upcoming event sponsored by Nissan, there may be a 'connection' made in the minds of some consumers that relate Tiger to Nissan rather than to Buick.

Woods may not have a relationship with Office Depot as another example, and would have a problem with post-tournament media print materials congratulating him on behalf of Office Depot for winning the event, as there is again a 'mental association' created within the consumer between Tiger Woods and Office Depot. It's sort of like a 'subconscious endorsement' of the retail chain.

Although PGA Tour players in effect sign over the right to use their images when they join the Tour, Woods says the way things are now, he "doesn't have complete control over the marketing of himself and his image", and he wants that control. This issue really extends far beyond just Tiger's situation and relates to all Tour players who have contractual responsibilities to their individual sponsors.

You've heard the expression that "no one is bigger than the game"? These recent events may have some people questioning if Tiger would disagree with you.

Each year, at the end of January, the PGA of America hosts their annual Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. This Show started out back in the 1960's, when a few golf equipment sales representatives would park their cars in a motel parking lot, open the trunks, and have local PGA club professionals come by, view samples, and place orders.

The Show has now grown to the point where the exhibitors' number in the hundreds, and tens of thousands of golf industry people walk the aisles for four days looking at all the new innovations in equipment, apparel and accessories.

I have been fortunate to have attended a number of these Shows over the years, and I have also noticed that year after year, I would regularly see the likes of Byron Nelson, Tommy Bolt, Doug Sanders, Sam Snead, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer walking the aisles, signing autographs as they go along and having a look at what's new and exciting in the golf industry.

Due to its nature, including low purses, during the infancy of professional tournament golf back in the period of the 1920's through the '50's, legendary players such as Byron Nelson and Sam Snead were golfers first and foremost, with the business aspects of their chosen profession taking a back seat to their basic love of the game. A tournament player today can easily earn more money in one event than some of the greats like Nelson, Snead, and Hogan took home in their entire careers.

In the case of Tiger Woods, it seems that big business and the game of golf have become synonymous. There also appears to be a challenge unfolding that may eventually lead to the 'focus' surrounding Tiger Woods business interests not only overshadowing, but perhaps eventually completely dominating, the golf component.

For reasons such as this, I just cannot picture Tiger Woods years from now, wandering the aisles of the Merchandise Show, checking out the new gear, reminiscing with old friends, smiling and signing autographs.

Unfortunately, due perhaps to the burgeoning Tiger Woods empire, along with some the recent developments noted earlier, Tiger may risk giving the impression that he feels that golf owes him something, rather than the other way around.

There is no doubt that Tiger is the dominant player in the world today. On the golf course he is the man to beat. It is probably no joke that some of the Tour players are planning their schedules for next season based on which events Tiger is probably 'not' going to enter.

Woods already has more than enough money to live an extravagant lifestyle for the rest of his days. Under present circumstances, perhaps he and his 'handlers' should be painfully conscientious of how the public 'perceives' the scales to be weighted in the balancing act between 'taking something from the game', and 'putting something back into the game'.

When it comes right down to it, perception 'is' reality, and it would be a shame if Tiger's eventual legacy were to only reflect on the number of tournaments he won and the riches he garnered, rather than on how he, hopefully, will have brought the game of golf to another level, as others such as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have done before him.