Woods, Nike was a partnership for a lifetime until it wasn’t

Woods has had a lifelong partnership with Nike, but not until now.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – A red shirt came to define Tiger Woods on Sunday.

The same goes for the swoosh. Woods and Nike have been partners since their appearance at the Greater Milwaukee Open in August 1996, when the 20-year-old won his third consecutive US Amateur title. “I think, hello world, right?” He whispered into his striped shirt, looking around the room. said.

It all seemed so innocent until a few days later Nike launched its Hello World campaign. It didn’t come together overnight, but so what? Went. When it comes to Woods and Nike, almost everyone has one.

“Very good. It was a great collaboration,” says Mark Steinberg, Excel Sports agent.

While filming a commercial in Florida in 1999, there was a break when the producers decided to film Woods as he began to swing a golf ball off the tee. The result was a 30-second stretch in which Woods switched hands, feet and backhand before launching himself into the air and making heavy contact with a baseball swing, at which point the ball bounced. Pure magic. One of the most famous shots in Masters history was when he staggered down the 16th green toward the hole and stopped before the ball dropped for birdie. Of course, this script was not written. It just seemed that way.

Woods switched to Nike golf balls in May 2000 and won the next four major championships, becoming the only player in history to use both balls at the same time. He switched to Nike irons a week before the 2002 Ryder Cup. Asked about the timing of the switch, Woods said, “Why not use it? Because the profession is over.” When asked to comment on the article, he thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “Because justice is done.”

Now, after 27 years, the cooperation has ended.

At the time, Woods had three full-time employees and two agents. Below him were six corporate sponsors and four swing coaches. He used 3 golf balls and 4 irons. What hasn’t changed is our relationship with Nike.

“I was sure he was going to get life in prison,” Curtis Strange said. Strange has a history with Nike Golf. He and Peter Jacobsen both wore trench coats when they became famous for sneakers. In particular, Air Jordan became famous for Michael Jordan, the only athlete permanently associated with Nike. Strange used “Nike Golf” as he became the first player since Ben Hogan to win the US Open. He also redshirted Sunday for his second title at Oak Hill in 1989. Not many people remember that. Maybe even less. “They were very young.” said strangely. “There was some pressure on us from advertising and posters, but it was a small part of the market.”

Then it got bigger when Nike founder Phil Knight signed Woods. “What Michael Jordan did in basketball, Tiger Woods can do in golf.” Knight spoke to Golf World about the initial contract (five years, $40 million) that seemed huge at the time and now looks similar to his father Earl’s contract (five years, $40 million). ). He called it “a powerful change.”

“The world has never seen what he does for this sport,” Knight said. “It’s almost art. I wasn’t alive to see Claude Monet’s paintings, but I was alive to see Tiger play, and that’s a really cool thing.

He was right about what Woods did for the sport. He had a popularity not seen since Arnold Palmer, and Woods was the catalyst for a television deal that made everyone richer than they thought, at least outside of the Saudis. But Nike Golf never took off. He outsourced his golf balls. It was once produced as a square driver (Woods never used it). Then in 2016 I ditched hardware and just focused on clothes. Brooks Koepka remains the owner of Nike Athletics and Equipment. He still uses a Nike 3 iron.

“It’s a very simple equation,” Knight told Bloomberg of Nike’s decision to exit the golf equipment business in a 2017 interview.

“We’ve been losing money on equipment and balls for 20 years and we know next year won’t be the same,” he said. Woods hasn’t been seen at Nike much lately. Mainly due to knee surgery, five back surgeries and most recently an ankle fusion in April after a car accident outside Los Angeles in February 2021 broke my a bone in the right leg.

After coming back from a car accident, she switched to FootJoy shoes because “I needed something to help me stay stable.” Nike responded that it would work with Woods to “address his needs.” Woods was still wearing FootJoy a month ago. Woods, who turned 48 a few weeks ago, wants to play tournaments every month if his body allows. He gets more attention than any other golfer in history. But there are still six tournaments left.

In a social media post, Woods spoke of a “new chapter” that marked the end of his relationship with Nike. Steinberg, the agent, spoke of an “exciting announcement” made at the Riviera last February. But that will be another page. It’s hard to imagine Woods being able to recreate the moments he’s had with Nike over the years. Especially since Woods, like Claude Monet, was more interested in medicine than painting.

Nike also has Scotty Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Nellie Korda on the LPGA Tour. Losing touch with Woods has led to speculation, although there is no evidence, that his golfing days are numbered.

How about vanity? It will be his first appearance in Los Angeles. Sunday shirts are always red.