IMG's Hughes Norton, Woods' agent, was interviewed on
ABC's "This Week." On the episode of the past week
regarding Fuzzy Zoeller, Norton said, "It is unfortunate
that he chose to express those remarks and Tiger was a bit
shocked. But now he would just like to put it behind us, go
forward, accept Fuzzy's apology, play golf." On Woods'
endorsement potential: "It is something that Tiger does not
like to talk about in dollar terms, nor do we. ... Tiger
is, lets put it this way, certainly closing in on the top
three earners of all athletes in any sport and I think he'll
be a strong number two behind Michael Jordan." On the
danger of begin overexposed: "The game plan with Tiger and
his family is very clear and we won't deviate from it, which
basically is, less is more. There will be a handful of
endorsements, he's with Nike, he's with Titleist, there will
be a couple of other major companies that Tiger will go to
work for and we are going to keep him free and clear to play
golf. Norton, asked if Nike's first Woods' ad saying there
are certain course he couldn't play on because of his color,
back-fired: "A definite sense on the part of some people.
... It's about black people not being able to play courses
in America. It's about women not being able to play at a
lot of courses in America. ... He was glad it was said, he
felt that it needed to be said, and he thinks that once it
is said it stimulates discussion, both pro and con. That's
how you make progress." Norton, on Woods' statements in
GQ: "He's a 21-year-old kid and as he frequently says
sometimes, 'Give me a break, I'm going to make mistakes
sometimes, I'm going to do crazy things.' We all did when we
were 21. ... There's really not much you can do about that,
other than learn from it and just go forward" (ABC, 4/25).
NEWS & NOTES: In Chicago, George Lazarus notes sources
say Woods' next endorsement will be with Rolex Watch USA
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/28)....BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS reported
that Jack Nicklaus and his Golden Bear company "are in early
talks" with Woods for "some sort of relationship, but
details are still sketchy" (N.Y. POST, 4/26)....Woods was
featured on the cover of FLORIDA Sunday magazine under the
header, "Who Is Orlando's Newest Superstar, And Where Does
He Go From Here?" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/27).
