TearDrop Golf signed a multi-year agreement for the
TearDrop Professional Golf Tour to be televised on The Golf
Channel. A half-hour bimonthly program, tentatively titled
"Inside the TearDrop Tour," will feature tour highlights,
player profiles, stats, analysis and golf instruction. The
Golf Channel will also air four of the TearDrop Tour's top
events, consisting of four hours per tournament. As part of
the deal, TearDrop will advertise its Armour, Zebra, Ram and
TearDrop Golf brands on various programming of The Golf
Channel, including exclusive sponsorship of "The TearDrop
Putt of the Week" (TearDrop). GOLFWEB's Ted Johnson
reported that "Inside the Teardrop Tour" is scheduled to air
from March to November '99. TearDrop Golf President Rudy
Slucker said that total prize money for all of the events
"will be close" to $5M. Slucker hopes that the TearDrop
Tour becomes "the first step" for prospective Nike Tour and
PGA Tour players. Slucker: "The Teardrop Tour is the Single
A and Double A of golf. ... [W]e don't want to challenge
Nike, we want to be the best feeder" (GOLFWEB, 11/16).
