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Tiger's big meltdown: Woods exile sparks cash crisis in American golf
By Derek Lawrenson Last updated at 12:43 PM on 14th December 2009
Branded: Sponsors are beginning to back away from Tiger Woods — and from the sport of golf itself
Make no mistake, this is arguably the worst crisis American golf has faced in more than 50 years.
Day after day of the XXX Factor was bad enough. But nothing spooks like uncertainty, which is why Tiger Woods's decision to take an 'indefinite' break has changed the game's mood from troubled to terrified.
'It is a scary vision,' agreed Ulsterman Graeme McDowell. 'We're under no illusions. We're much more prosperous golfers for having Tiger in our era.'
Perhaps a sign of the difficulties ahead came on Saturday, when Accenture, one of Woods's leading sponsors, took his image down from their website. Accenture spend $15million (£9.2m) each year to sponsor the highlight of the pre-Masters schedule, the Match Play Championship, held every February in Arizona, and it is all wrapped round Woods.
VIDEO: Woods dropped by sponsor...
It wasn't a coincidence that when he made his comeback last year after eight months out following knee surgery, it was at that event. So, if Accenture are now actively wondering whether it's worth still being associated with the world No 1, where does that leave their long-running sponsorship of the tournament that revolves around him?
Similarly AT&T, who not only sponsor Woods but a tournament he runs in Washington each July. 'We're currently evaluating our relationship,' an AT&T spokesman said on Saturday. If they evaluate for the worse, that will not only be Tiger's loss. It will be another big tournament gone.
'Transgressions' was one buzz word from Woods that we all had a bit of fun with. 'Indefinite' is no laughing matter at all.
Thanks to Woods, Nike golf has become a billion-dollar industry. Thanks to Tiger, millions of American kids don't walk into their living room and then out again when they see that Dad has put on the golf. Without him, all golf manufacturers will feel the chill breath of hard times on their collective cheeks.
Good luck, Mr Tim Finchem, commissioner of the United States Tour, trying to renegotiate those precious television contracts, amounting to a near-billion dollars in total, with no main man to offer the Tiger-obsessed networks.
No doubt Finchem is desperately trying to get some time-frame on Woods's return, but that's the problem with indefinite. No-one has the foggiest idea when he'll be back, including probably Woods himself. Some reports say before the Masters. Some say forget it until 2011, or maybe not even then.
Hallowed: Woods drives on the 18th at Pebble Beach
The only thing we can say with certainty is that, for the first time in his life, the control freak has lost control, and that means everything is up in the air. It's his desperately wronged wife Elin who is in charge now, and her next move, whether it be to consult a divorce lawyer or a grim resolve to keep her family together, will determine everything.
What makes it all so much worse was that next year was the one where Woods was destined to play even more of a leading role than usual. Plan A called for this to be the season where his dazzling brilliance convinced any wavering sponsors to back the sport.
Every 10 years the stars align in this game and the boys of summer return to hallowed Pebble Beach to play a US Open, followed a month later by The Open at St Andrews. When this last happened, Tiger won the first by 15 shots and the second by eight.
Can you imagine these events next year, at his two favourite places on earth, without him? It would be like looking forward all year to going to a play featuring your favourite actor, only to find he's been replaced by the understudy.
In PR terms among the American media, Woods's bombshell announcement met with general approval. Certainly, it was a smart move to show some humility.
'It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try,' said Tiger. 'I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person.'
No one would argue with the sentiments expressed but plenty would question whether this was the best way to try to repair the damage. Perish the thought, but if you were Elin, do you think reconciliation would come about through spending all day, every day with your philandering husband? At sea on the good ship Privacy, wouldn't you be tempted to toss him overboard?
Favourite place: Woods holds the Claret Jug aloft at St Andrews in 2005
Still, let's hope for the best-case scenario: that come March, the smouldering hate in Elin's heart has softened to the extent where she can look her wayward partner in the eye and say: 'Go play golf.' American golf might depend on it.
With Elin currently calling the shots, these must be nervous times for Woods's inner circle: manager Mark Steinberg, caddie Steve Williams and childhood friend Byron Bell, head of Tiger's golf design team.
Williams has already been on the blower to his mate on a New Zealand paper proclaiming he knew nothing of Woods's off-course behaviour, to which the general reaction would be: 'Yeah, right.'
Elin's price for staying with her husband will surely include that she doesn't have to look anyone in the eye who was close to him during the Age of Transgression, so expect some significant changes if he does return.
Tiger-mania: Woods left Melbourne in triumph just three weeks ago after generating arguably the biggest wave of fandom since the Beatles visited
Can you believe it was only three weeks ago that Woods was leaving Australia in triumph after his first trip there in 11 years, not only for winning a tournament but for generating what some argued was the biggest wave of fandom witnessed since the Beatles visited? That's what Tiger at his best does for golf.
Now we're into the Age of Uncertainty, and fearing the worst. It's getting on for 2,500 years since Euripedes wrote his fabled words: 'Those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first deprive of their senses.'
As Tiger searches for his, the great worry must be that he will take American golf as we know it down with him.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-1235516/Tigers-big-meltdown-Woods-exile-sparks-cash-crisis-American-golf.html#ixzz0ZfrfVrPx
By Derek Lawrenson Last updated at 12:43 PM on 14th December 2009
Branded: Sponsors are beginning to back away from Tiger Woods — and from the sport of golf itselfMake no mistake, this is arguably the worst crisis American golf has faced in more than 50 years.
Day after day of the XXX Factor was bad enough. But nothing spooks like uncertainty, which is why Tiger Woods's decision to take an 'indefinite' break has changed the game's mood from troubled to terrified.
'It is a scary vision,' agreed Ulsterman Graeme McDowell. 'We're under no illusions. We're much more prosperous golfers for having Tiger in our era.'
Perhaps a sign of the difficulties ahead came on Saturday, when Accenture, one of Woods's leading sponsors, took his image down from their website. Accenture spend $15million (£9.2m) each year to sponsor the highlight of the pre-Masters schedule, the Match Play Championship, held every February in Arizona, and it is all wrapped round Woods.
VIDEO: Woods dropped by sponsor...
It wasn't a coincidence that when he made his comeback last year after eight months out following knee surgery, it was at that event. So, if Accenture are now actively wondering whether it's worth still being associated with the world No 1, where does that leave their long-running sponsorship of the tournament that revolves around him?
Similarly AT&T, who not only sponsor Woods but a tournament he runs in Washington each July. 'We're currently evaluating our relationship,' an AT&T spokesman said on Saturday. If they evaluate for the worse, that will not only be Tiger's loss. It will be another big tournament gone.
'Transgressions' was one buzz word from Woods that we all had a bit of fun with. 'Indefinite' is no laughing matter at all.
Thanks to Woods, Nike golf has become a billion-dollar industry. Thanks to Tiger, millions of American kids don't walk into their living room and then out again when they see that Dad has put on the golf. Without him, all golf manufacturers will feel the chill breath of hard times on their collective cheeks.
Good luck, Mr Tim Finchem, commissioner of the United States Tour, trying to renegotiate those precious television contracts, amounting to a near-billion dollars in total, with no main man to offer the Tiger-obsessed networks.
No doubt Finchem is desperately trying to get some time-frame on Woods's return, but that's the problem with indefinite. No-one has the foggiest idea when he'll be back, including probably Woods himself. Some reports say before the Masters. Some say forget it until 2011, or maybe not even then.
Hallowed: Woods drives on the 18th at Pebble BeachThe only thing we can say with certainty is that, for the first time in his life, the control freak has lost control, and that means everything is up in the air. It's his desperately wronged wife Elin who is in charge now, and her next move, whether it be to consult a divorce lawyer or a grim resolve to keep her family together, will determine everything.
What makes it all so much worse was that next year was the one where Woods was destined to play even more of a leading role than usual. Plan A called for this to be the season where his dazzling brilliance convinced any wavering sponsors to back the sport.
Every 10 years the stars align in this game and the boys of summer return to hallowed Pebble Beach to play a US Open, followed a month later by The Open at St Andrews. When this last happened, Tiger won the first by 15 shots and the second by eight.
Can you imagine these events next year, at his two favourite places on earth, without him? It would be like looking forward all year to going to a play featuring your favourite actor, only to find he's been replaced by the understudy.
In PR terms among the American media, Woods's bombshell announcement met with general approval. Certainly, it was a smart move to show some humility.
'It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try,' said Tiger. 'I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person.'
No one would argue with the sentiments expressed but plenty would question whether this was the best way to try to repair the damage. Perish the thought, but if you were Elin, do you think reconciliation would come about through spending all day, every day with your philandering husband? At sea on the good ship Privacy, wouldn't you be tempted to toss him overboard?
Favourite place: Woods holds the Claret Jug aloft at St Andrews in 2005Still, let's hope for the best-case scenario: that come March, the smouldering hate in Elin's heart has softened to the extent where she can look her wayward partner in the eye and say: 'Go play golf.' American golf might depend on it.
With Elin currently calling the shots, these must be nervous times for Woods's inner circle: manager Mark Steinberg, caddie Steve Williams and childhood friend Byron Bell, head of Tiger's golf design team.
Williams has already been on the blower to his mate on a New Zealand paper proclaiming he knew nothing of Woods's off-course behaviour, to which the general reaction would be: 'Yeah, right.'
Elin's price for staying with her husband will surely include that she doesn't have to look anyone in the eye who was close to him during the Age of Transgression, so expect some significant changes if he does return.
Tiger-mania: Woods left Melbourne in triumph just three weeks ago after generating arguably the biggest wave of fandom since the Beatles visitedCan you believe it was only three weeks ago that Woods was leaving Australia in triumph after his first trip there in 11 years, not only for winning a tournament but for generating what some argued was the biggest wave of fandom witnessed since the Beatles visited? That's what Tiger at his best does for golf.
Now we're into the Age of Uncertainty, and fearing the worst. It's getting on for 2,500 years since Euripedes wrote his fabled words: 'Those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first deprive of their senses.'
As Tiger searches for his, the great worry must be that he will take American golf as we know it down with him.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-1235516/Tigers-big-meltdown-Woods-exile-sparks-cash-crisis-American-golf.html#ixzz0ZfrfVrPx
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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