EA Sports sticking with Tiger Woods

EA Sports has said it will stick with Tiger Woods as its golf series front man despite the three-time grand slam winner's "mistakes off the course".

Writing on his blog, EA Sports president Peter Moore said the company had chosen to work with Woods in 1997 for purely sporting reasons, not so he could "act as an arm's length endorser".

"By his own admission, he's made some mistakes off the course. But regardless of what's happening in his personal life, and regardless of his decision to take a personal leave from the sport, Tiger Woods is still one of the greatest athletes in history," Moore wrote.

What's more, EA's latest golf game to bear the Woods name, the browser-based Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, will go into open beta "later this month".

"At EA Sports, we make authentic sports simulations. When we say, 'It's in the Game', it is not just a tag line but a statement about the quality and authenticity of the game experience," Moore continued.

"Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online is truly representative of that rallying cry, and a game that all of us at EA Sports are proud to be delivering this month to sports fans around the globe."

Woods has been in a spot of public relations bother ever since reports broke last year about his extramarital dalliances, after which he announced he was taking an indefinite break from pro golf.

Several of his sponsors and companies whose products he endorsed, including Accenture and AT&T, have subsequently ended their relationships with him.