Tiger Woods featured on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine /Courtesy of vanityfair.com

The February issue of Vanity Fair magazine features a photograph of a half-naked Tiger Woods staring aggressively at the camera and hefting dumbbells. It was taken by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz in 2006, long before the golf master's fall from grace after revelations of his infidelities.

The reason Woods' affairs have received so much more media coverage and scrutiny than those of other sports megastars such as David Beckham, Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez is because of the golfer's previously impeccable public image, the U.S. magazine said.

"In an age of constant gotcha and exposure, he had always been the bionic man in terms of personality, controlling to a fault and controlled to a fault, smiling with humility and showing those pearly white teeth in victory or defeat, sui generis in the world of pro golf, where even fellow pros and other insiders didn't really know him, because he didn't want anybody to know him," the article said. "With Woods, everything was crafted to produce a man of nothing, with no interior -- non-threatening and non-controversial."

Meanwhile, the online edition of the U.K.'s Mirror newspaper reported on Monday that Woods' wife Elin Nordegren has hired a private detective to get a full assessment of Woods' assets before she proceeds with a divorce. Woods is estimated to have some US$1 billion in assets, but the exact amount is unclear as his properties are scattered around.