Several weeks ago, when he made his prepared speech to a handful of people, a communications professional whose opinion I respect greatly wrote me the following e-mail:

“You’re not going to find a better-crafted piece of work. pitch perfect, human and remorseful. Whoever wrote this for him is a maestro…and brilliant stagecraft as well… Watch it from three perspectives:

• the content, tone and taking responsibility in the statement.

• the stagecraft and controlled manner of the initial message wave.

• the multiple key audiences he deftly touches with his message.

“Yes, simply watch it as a media professional evaluating the whole package.

“In just a 10-12 minute presentation, you could teach a whole college class on all the facets of this damage control effort.”

Since then you’ve had the carefully-planned 5-minute interviews with two networks (Golf Channel and ESPN); and the public practice; and then this week’s press conference with 48 questions. It’s pretty clear my friend’s assessment was right. This is being rolled out masterfully (no pun intended) and on Tiger’s terms.

This isn’t fully in his rear-view mirror yet, but with a little more time and some victories on the golf course it will continue to fade. For communications professionals there’s a lot to learn from the way this was handled.