We should be careful about how much weight we attach to social media numbers, but there was something revealing about the audiences garnered by Tiger Woods’s two most recent posts.

Starting with the older message, shared on X on March 11, it was the revelation that during the course of a practice session, the achilles tendon in his left ankle had ruptured.

Not for the first time, there was an instinct to ask whether, at 49, we have seen the last of him as a competitive force, if we hadn’t already. It was big news, doubly so for its proximity to the Masters next month, and it was viewed 3.9million times on the platform. Hefty.

And yet tiny by comparison to what he disclosed in his next post on March 23, which was a confirmation of a story that first appeared on Mail Online about his relationship with Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump. That one was viewed 49million times.

Golf has some pull, but not nearly as much as showbiz gossip, alas, and a unification of the planetary brands of Woods and Trump was never going to pass through town quietly.

But it does raise a thought: after all the successes of one sport’s greatest careers, and after all the dramas that have been so thoroughly documented in his wider life, from scandals to that police mugshot for driving under the influence in 2017, who is Tiger Woods in 2025 in the public consciousness?

Have we reached the point where interest in his future contributions to golf are secondary to interest around how he uses his time off the course?

There is a strong argument to be made that such a point was passed long ago, most obviously with the revelations in 2009 around his many extra-marital affairs, such is the fascination with downfalls, and how that sat alongside his slip away from sporting domination.

For an individual who, as a child, kept a list on his bedroom wall of Jack Nicklaus’s ages when he passed certain milestones, comparing himself on every step of his way to the top, you can safely imagine such a change in onus is rather grating to him. Nauseating would be closer to the bone.

Woods loathes prying into his life – famously, his yacht is named Privacy and he once spoke of enjoying scuba diving because ‘fish don’t ask for autographs’.

His daughter Sam told a story in 2022, on the occasion of his induction to golf’s hall of fame, that shined a light on life beyond reach of the lens.

Ostensibly, it was around his love of Marvel comics and how her father would FaceTime his friends to talk about storylines, and concluded with a nugget of detail that he would attend Comic-Con gatherings dressed as Batman.

The story was lovingly told, but also alluded to the gilded cage of his existence, where vast fame meant he needed to wear masks in public. That he craved to be present and invisible simultaneously.

It was possible in that instance to be both amused and sympathetic at once.

To go from that sense of suffocation to the manner with which he confirmed his relationship with the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jnr was highly uncharacteristic: ‘Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together. At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.’

Time was that those in the sporting media would remark on a man who could use thousands of words in the act of revealing nothing at all.

In 37 words of one tweet, accompanied by a picture of Woods and his girlfriend in a hammock, he shared far more than usual, even if the undertone was inescapable: I’ve confirmed the reports and rumours, now leave me alone.

If Woods has found balance in his life, that would be heartening to those who have long suspected he needed more, especially at a point when his sporting prowess has been lost to all those injuries.

Since the car crash that almost cost him his right leg in 2021, Woods is among the dwindling few who believe he can still win a major and he would not thank anyone who subscribes to the alternate view – just ask Colin Montgomerie, who Woods eviscerated at the Open last year for having the temerity to articulate it.

Incidentally, his missed cut at that tournament stands as Woods’s most recent competitive outing. Back surgery in the autumn, the death of his mother in February and his achilles injury have accounted for the past eight months and a return for any of the majors this season feels distinctly unlikely.

In that time since last summer, he has been limited to an exhibition tournament with son Charlie and appearances in his latest creation, the TGL simulator league, which has generated curiosity but remains a work in progress.

What next for Woods? His former caddie Steve Williams presented a theory as likely as any in an interview with Mail Sport this month, saying: ‘My take would be that he wants to get himself in a position where he's 100 per cent fit, 100 per cent confident in his swing, and will then see how he can compete, because the past few years he hasn’t had a chance to find out.

‘He won't sign off until he absolutely knows his game is not of the standard to win a major. It’s the way he is wired.’

That wiring is well-documented but his compilation of surgeries makes such a state of health seem wildly optimistic. More so Williams’s belief that Woods could, if fit, go on to win a 16th major, six years and counting since his last.

It is certainly easier to think any future wins will be limited to the seniors’ circuit, for which he will be eligible when he turns 50 in December and where they are permitted to use a cart.

Ironically, Woods’s place in golf is as important now with two bad legs and a fused spine as it was when he was carving apart the field.

That brings a different Trump into the equation, owing to the shared involvement of Woods and the president in attempting to broker a reunification of the sport. Woods has been central to the search for a workable coexistence between the PGA Tour and the LIV circuit.

The consuming nature of those tedious discussions, which have reached the White House in recent months, are among the reasons why he rejected the offer of the US Ryder Cup captaincy for this autumn’s showdown with Europe.

To see Trump fawn over Woods at any opportunity is a reminder of the golfer’s magnetism – they have played rounds together in recent months.

Given the fractured state of the professional game, and Trump’s sway over the US Department of Justice, which has concerns about the merger of rival tours, their relationship is of vital importance to golf.

As for the Ryder Cup, the captaincy is one of Woods’s unchecked goals. While he left the team’s management hanging an awfully long time before ruling himself out, prompting the rushed appointment of Keegan Bradley, they will turn to him in a heartbeat when he is ready.

It is understood the most likely jumping-in point will be the 2027 match at Adare Manor in County Limerick, with standing rumours that he has made a promise to do so with Irish billionaire JP McManus, his close friend.

Those are the kinds of circles Woods has long occupied so perhaps it is no surprise he is now dating Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law.

As ever, his relationships will be a source of intrigue for a great many people. The sadness is that his role in elite-level sport is becoming more of an afterthought.