According to UK newspaper The Guardian, the deal would also include bonuses of £1 million for winning a US major and £2 million for winning the Open.

Paddy Power said: “We’re in negotiations with IMG to sponsor Tiger. It’s still in the early stage of the negotiations, really. It’s going to be, if it all comes off, the biggest kind of sponsorship deal we have ever done by quite a way.”

Several US pollsters say Tiger Woods’ popularity with corporate sponsors and the public has plummeted despite his public apology several weeks ago.

Bloomberg reports that US company Davie Brown Entertainment reported that Woods had fallen from sixth to 147th, in their index of celebrity endorsers, based on polls carried out in the week ending March 2.

Woods’ spokesman Glenn Greenspan has hit back with his own poll reports that show viewers of the apology came away with a better impression of the golfer. He said a February 19 survey, by HCD Research, of 1,090 people who watched Woods public apology on television, showed that 31 per cent came away with a more positive perception of him, 17 per cent a more negative perception, and 52 percent were unchanged.

Greenspan said Woods had received “an outpouring of support in letters, calls and e-mails to our office,” after the television appearance.

Some great publicity this morning from Paddy Power – for **not** being able to sponsor Tiger Woods!

So, they manage to achieve some publicity, and Tiger Woods is seen to be receiving sponsorship offers again, so it’s a win-win all round.