Going separate ways: Tiger Woods could be a reinvigorated golfer with divorce firmly in his rear view mirror Photo: GETTY IMAGES
It has been crash and burn ever since, but on Monday someone finally got the dented fire hydrant to work again.
It was curious that Woods and his former wife should choose to release the news on Tiger's website. It was also telling that the "joint statement" was released under the names of "Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods". Elin comes first these days. She's the one who has been wearing the plus fours in that relationship ever since that doomed night.
The statement read: "We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future. While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us.
"The weeks and months ahead will not be easy for them as we adjust to a new family situation, which is why our privacy must be a principal concern."
The privacy mantra has been oft repeated these past nine months and has been as effective as hitting a cut-up wedge into a force 9 wind. The Americans love to use the word 'closure', but we are probably still a fair few months away from that.
It has been previously reported that the divorce will cost Woods £500 million. In return he gets shared parenting of the two children, Sam and Charlie, and Elin's silence. That should at least bring Woods some peace of mind.
When I asked Woods in June, on the stated basis that our professional lives are inevitably affected by our personal lives, if he had any resolution with Elin, Woods replied with a snarl: "That's none of your business."
By posting this news on the website Woods has finally recognised that this is our business. Or as one fan put it: "You made it our business."
That at least is some sort of progress, but it is unlikely that he has yet matured enough to finally utter Elin's name in public again. The last time most of us can remember Woods putting that four-letter word together was back at the Masters in April.
Elin's name may remain unutterable, but Woods should no longer be ruined by the strain of sorting out his divorce. He is likely to have more time for practice and more space in his head again.
Woods may even win a major next year, although there are some who think that the collapse of Woods's reputation has broken his supremacy for ever.
In the short term it makes it even easier for Corey Pavin to pick Woods for the forthcoming Ryder Cup.
Woods had initially been reluctant to play but, conscious that a refusal to represent his country would only further damage his reputation, Woods suddenly showed willing. Maybe he had finally ascertained that his divorce was imminent.
There is also the mischievous thought that now Woods is single again, the rest of America's Ryder Cup wives will be more willing to accept him.
Europe's captain Colin Montgomerie had anticipated hostility, because many of the wives had previously been friendly with Elin. But this divorce may now allow Woods to find a measure of sympathy.
Many players have spoken of how their form was devastated by personal troubles. Monty himself, Paul Casey and Graeme McDowell have all recently articulated slumps brought on by unhappiness.
But top golfers, by nature and necessity are selfish creatures, and each one managed to recover. Woods is now likely to be able to do the same.
But he may never find the old powers.
In nine months Woods has been ridiculed by images of an avenging wife; he has had his considerable sexual exploits revealed; pole dancers have put on a Tiger show as they follow him from major to major; he has been associated with a doctor accused of supplying illegal drugs and been questioned by the feds.
Perhaps worst of all for a man of Woods's pride, for a man with his meaning in life, he has shanked it all over the golf course. He may never fully forget that humiliation, but he may now at last be able to move on.
Woods may finally be on the first tee to recovery.
