Tiger spent years promoting himself as a man who could do no wrong. He was a family man with strong morals and a person who excelled in his profession. But it turns out he lied. He did what he pleased, cheating on his wife several times. He engaged in activities contradictory to his outward appearance of a wholesome man and lied to cover them up.

Sure, he’s taking a break from golf and allowing others a chance to win, but he’ll likely dominate once he returns to his sport. His personal life is just that — personal — and doesn’t affect his job, no matter how immoral his actions.

Toyota, on the other hand, spent years promoting itself as a company that could do no wrong. It was a company that stood by its products and quality and excelled in its industry. The company went against previous internal problems and covered up problems concerning safety flaws — including electronic and pedal malfunctions. But the company’s mistake, unlike Tiger’s, is likely to affect its market share dominance — ­as it should.

Toyota might be able to recover in the future, but it’ll have to return to the strong principals on which it once prided itself. Toyota messed up as a company, padded the truth in an attempt to save trouble and money and went against the core beliefs of a strong product it had established in America, all while killing about 37 drivers, according to USA Today.

Now isn’t the time for Toyota to slip up as an automaker — that was a year ago, when the Big Three were in major financial trouble. Now, with American companies making a comeback, even I, a longtime proponent of European cars, am looking toward supporting domestic cars.

The fact that American companies are moving away from SUV and truck designs and into more designs like those you would see in Europe makes me happy. Being patriotic isn’t something I could do when the gas-guzzling giants dominated the roads.

Not only were they ugly; they weren’t friendly to the planet, other drivers or one’s wallet. But now as they become more compact, fuel efficient and safe, I can say I would proudly purchase an American car.

A Super Bowl commercial helped with the feeling. A Volkswagen advertisement had Stevie Wonder endorsing the cars. Now, I love Stevie Wonder and the music he makes. But he’s from Detroit. Why is he not endorsing Motown? He should want to help the struggling city and companies that once made the city great. I suppose that would be Stevie’s choice, so shame on him.

I don’t think I would have ever chosen an Asian vehicle. But I understood how Toyota could control such a large market share of the world. After Toyota’s recall fiasco and recent changes to the American approach to cars, I like where the auto industry is headed: toward smaller and more fuel-efficient automobiles.

I still can’t say I’d definitely choose a GM or Ford over most European brands. The look, feel and performance of European automobiles has long had me captivated. But at least now I would take a deeper look and compare carefully between American and European cars.

A year ago, there was fear that American car companies were going to disappear. With new leaders in place, GM and Ford have taken great strides to make a comeback and regain their place atop the market.

Toyota’s stumble opens up a gap for American and European automakers to fill in the market and ensure Toyota doesn’t take back the lead. In past years, I would have liked to see European cars come out on top, but with the recent American economic struggles and improvements in U.S. cars, I really don’t mind who “wins” now.

Tiger Woods and Toyota both screwed up. Once Woods returns to golf, he’ll still be the best golfer in the world. Toyota’s mistake affects the product identity and hurts its reputation.

They might be able to recover, but not before giving others a chance.

Pat Evans is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at evanspa7@msu.edu.