The carefully crafted image of Tiger Woods continues to crumble with evidence now emerging that his minders paid alleged lover Rachel Uchitel to fly business class to Melbourne last month and mistress number four stepping forward.

There are two fascinating aspects about this sordid little story. First, is the number of people now lining up to make money out of it. For example, one of the women Jaimee Grubbs has sold her story to US Weekly.

But the more important question is whether those sponsors will stick with Tiger. Woods' golfing fame has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars of sponsorship deals that have made him the richest athlete ever. That's why he is a story for business journalists as well as gossip hounds. That's also why the Wall Street Journal put him on its front page. So far, the sponsors are saying the deals are safe, they will stand by Woods. As the Financial Times points out, sponsors are sticking with Tiger Woods because of an image built around values like diversity, his connection with young people and his appeal to C-level executives. That never included Christian morality so hypocrisy doesn't come into it. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Gwen Knapp says sponsors have little reason to dump him. "His core fans won't let the state of his marriage affect their fascination with his game. The wider audience will probably let go of any naive disappointment and simply wallow in the drama of the scandal. In the future, instead of painting him as a paragon, his handlers might try something more honest. He is American royalty, a Yankee Prince Charles, a latter-day Kennedy."

But the big question is whether more allegations will surface and whether we'll reach a tipping point where sponsors say enough is enough. Already we have some golfers saying Woods has handled it badly.

So how long will big business stick with Woods? Will there be a tipping point? Margareta Pagano in the Independent says pressure might come from shareholders. "I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that Gillette shareholders are starting to question why the mens' grooming company is spending so much money on sportsmen who seem to have feet of clay rather than gold,'' Pagano writes. "What's being called the curse of Gillette started when it signed David Beckham to a sponsorship deal just days after stories emerged about his alleged affair with his personal assistant. Then, only a few weeks ago, Thierry Henry, another Gillette superstar, got in trouble for cheating in France's World Cup qualifier and was forced into a humbling mea culpa. And now Woods. Yet good could still come from this humiliation. Big brands must think hard about throwing so much cash at spoilt sportsmen and other celebrities. Its not healthy for them. There are many more responsible ways for companies to advertise, and they should move quickly, before shareholders start swinging their golf clubs."