These excruciating economic times have claimed another victim: Tiger Woods.

GM just announced that it would be ending its nine-year endorsement deal with the world’s number one golfer.

Although both sides called the decision “mutual,” driven by GM’s desire to save the $7 million/year they were paying out to Woods, it is not clear how the legendary golfer’s life will be impacted.

Woods and his wife Elin are expecting their second child in early spring, and the sudden economic insecurity imposed on the young, struggling family with this announcement can only be imagined. With the Woods family breadwinner expected to remain out of competitive golf for an unknown amount of time due to his knee injury, close friends are colleagues are concerned that the family will find it hard to make ends meet on only $50 million dollars a year in other endorsements, appearance fees, and sales of Tiger’s spent chewing gum on eBay.

Elin Woods, a former swimwear model in her homeland of Sweden, might even have to return to mincing about in bikinis if the Woods progeny are to avoid the low-end multi-millionaire lifestyle so bravely endured by the likes of Phil Mickelson’s children.

(However, if she is to do so, Ol’ Dirty Tiger is going to have to keep his distance for a while. Has no one else noticed that the spacing of Sam Woods and the expected cub suggest Elin was pregnant again within a few months of delivering Sam? Sheesh. It seems that Tiger is trying to break Jack Nicklaus’s mark for number of kids produced while on Tour, too.)

I think it behooves us all to stop and reflect on the reality here: If Tiger’s job isn’t safe in this economic disaster, then none of us is without worry.

None of us except GM execs, that is. I smell a $7 million bonus for the guy responsible for canning Tiger!

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