As the world's leading golfer, a man who transcends his sport and who has become one of the most recognisable faces on the planet, Tiger Woods is held to a higher standard than most.

When his every step on a golf course is monitored by an entourage and a gallery that would make US president Barack Obama envious, he has to tread more carefully than anyone.

In the 12 years since he burst onto the scene with a record-breaking 12-shot winning margin at the Masters, Woods's indiscretions have been confined to unnecessary spitting, a constant scowl and
four-letter tirades at photographers and himself.

All because the golf course, where Woods is at his best, is where he sets himself his own high standards.

So, as a week that began with him driving into a fire hydrant, followed by his private life unravelling in a series of 'kiss-and-tell' revelations and subsequent apologies for his 'transgressions', draws to a close, the question remains what effect this will have on Woods where it matters most – on the course.

Already, his aura of invincibility was beginning to be eroded when unheralded YE Yang became the first golfer to either trail Woods or be tied for the lead with him going into the final round of a major and win.

That was at August's US PGA Championship and despite six wins on his first year back from major knee surgery, Woods ended 2009 without a major for only the fourth time since that landscape-altering Augusta week of 1997.

That will have hurt, perhaps not as much as this most trying of weeks when his iconic image has been forever tainted, but because chasing down Jack Nicklaus's haul of 18 major titles is more important to him than how he is perceived off the course.

These 'transgressions' as Woods puts them, at least show him to be human and fallible; although sponsors Gillette may be tempted to wrap Roger Federer in cotton wool for fear he may be their next ambassador – after Woods's straying libido and Thierry Henry's straying hand – to taint their clean-shaven image.

But will the actions of a prowling Tiger off the course convince Phil Mickelson or Lee Westwood that his focus will suffer on it?

Will they come to the back nine on a Sunday thinking the 14-time major winner is weaker than before because his mind is elsewhere?

Do not bet on it. Despite the past week's events, the stories leading up to them, and the first voice to publicly condemn him in Jesper Parnevik – the fellow professional who introduced Woods to wife Elin Nordegren – the presence of the world's No 1 remains enormous.

He will continue to be big box office wherever he goes, just as he was in Australia last month when the Melbourne course was sold out every day and a news helicopter followed his every move from airport to 18th tee.

He has overcome the death of his father, won a 14th major title while hobbling on a damaged knee at Torrey Pines in June, 2008 – and is only 33.

The remorseless tracking down of five more majors to beat Nicklaus's record remains well within his reach, particularly as two of the big four in 2010 are at two of his favourite courses.

The US Open will be held at Pebble Beach where in 2000 he won his first national title by a massive 15 shots.

The Open in July 2010 is at St Andrew's where Woods was a comfortable winner in 2000 and 2005.

Standing next to Woods on the first tee in the final round of a major next year – whether it be at Augusta, Pebble Beach, St Andrew's or Whistling Straits – the thoughts of the likes of Rory McIlroy and Anthony Kim will not be that the world No 1 is weak because of his private indiscretions, rather that he is vulnerable because of what happened at Hazeltine in August.

"If a little-known Korean in YE Yang can do it, then why can't I?" will be the motivating factor for the leading contenders to Woods's dominance.

Yet this whole sorry episode could make Woods stronger. His private life prior to the early hours of last Friday morning had been exactly that – private. The world only knew of the love for his father, the blonde on his arm, his two young children and the billions in the bank.

Now there will forever be a question mark next to his private life that he can no longer control. What he does have control of, though, is the golfing legacy he will leave, and do not expect this saga to hold him back for too long.