The fallout from a high-profile sex scandal and his subsequent divorce meant 2010 was a year for Woods to forget off the course, while on it the world's most feared player resembled a shadow of his former self, losing his number one ranking to Lee Westwood.
His collapse in form and the savaging of his clean-cut image also saw Woods – formerly one of the world's most bankable athletes – dropped by sponsors including Gatorade, AT&T, Gillette and Accenture.
Now Electronic Arts has decided not to use the golfer's image on the cover of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, to be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii in March.
Instead, the cover will feature the iconic yellow flag at Augusta, the course where The Masters is played each year.
He will still be a playable character in the game and will appear on the front of the PlayStation 3 Collector's Edition of the game, which is more expensive and has extra features.
Woods's affiliation with the former bestselling game began in 1999, but last year worldwide sales dropped 50 to 60 per cent.
The sales slump was put down to a slump in public interest in golf, rather than Woods's personal crisis, which began in November 2009.
Despite deciding not to feature Woods on this year's cover, EA Sports President Peter Moore claimed the company was standing by the golfer.
He said: "If the insinuation is it's a reflection of EA Sports backing away from its relationship that goes back literally 13 years with Tiger, that's not the case whatsoever."
Gamers should not "read anything" into the decision not to feature Woods on the cover of the regular Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii versions of the game, he added.
