Tiger Woods, the former world number-one golfer who recently divorced from wife Elin Nordegren following a string of affairs, has been dropped from the cover of his own video game, reports the UK's Daily Telegraph. The fallout from his high-profile marriage breakdown has cost Woods a number of lucrative sponsorship deals and EA Sports are the latest company to pass up on using the golfer's image.
Woods, still recognised as the world's richest sportsman, has already been dropped by the likes of Gatorade, AT&T, Gillette and Accenture, and now Electronic Arts have decided not to feature him on the cover of their forthcoming Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 release 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters', which is due out in March 2011. The company will instead use an image of the iconic yellow flag at the Augusta golf-course, the venue of the US Masters. The 35-year-old still appears in the game as a playable character but his appearance on the cover will be limited to just the 'Playstation 3 Collector's Edition'.
EA Sports President Peter Moore said despite choosing not to use Woods' image on the cover, the company are standing by the golfer, saying, "If the insinuation is it's a reflection of EA Sports backing away from its relationship that goes back literally 13 years with Tiger, that's not the case whatsoever".