What a loss to golf it would be if Tiger Woods did not return to the game. He was set to be the greatest golfer of all time. At two years of age he was putting with Bob Hope on TV. At three years he did eight holes in 48 strokes. Who knows what he could eventually achieve?

And yet there has always been something slightly unreal about him – even robotic. Like Michael Jackson, Tiger was driven by a domineering and ambitious father. Is there a price to be paid for being a child prodigy?

His fall from grace has been all the greater because of his "clean" image as a family man. Being the icon of the Gillette shaving advertisement summed him up. It makes his self-confessed transgressions all the more glaring.

Do we like to see celebrities reveal that they are just like the rest of us or even worse than us? The British golfer Colin Montgomerie commented that Tiger's "wall" is showing cracks at last, he is more normal now, and, Montgomorie went on to say, there will be more chance of us winning!

He has some deep questions to face, which in fairness he seems to be acknowledging. He admits his infidelity, a strong, old-fashioned word like transgression, and he doesn't know if it is possible to repair the damage. He asks for forgiveness and wants to try to be a better person. If this is not just PR, it is refreshingly honest.

Can his marriage survive such a betrayal of trust? For that is what infidelity is. It is not just the physical acts, it is the breaking of the mutual bond between two people which is so fragile and so difficult to repair. He apparently did not establish any lasting trust with any of his other many partners. But what does it say about the marriage that he was continually seeking others outside?

Maybe it lacked something or perhaps he felt safe in his marriage and saw other relationships as different.

Were the opportunities for such a famous man outside his marriage too tempting to resist? And the question must dog him – do women like me because of my name or for the person I am? And who are my friends now?

None of this excuses infidelity. But it may be relevant for any rebuilding of the relationship. I cannot imagine how his wife Elin must be feeling and whether that is even an option.

We have questions to face too about our unrealistic expectations of our heroes and our mean responses to their failures. We build them up and then knock them down.

I hope Tiger can find healing and return to his game. He may be a more fallible golfer, but he could be a more whole person.

At Christmas we see a God who comes to share with us the pain of our failures and to hold out to us the possibility of forgiveness. Jesus was born into a family like ours, with all our struggles and joys.