If Tiger Woods' dispute with the PGA Tour led him to
leave the U.S. tour, GOLF WORLD's Ron Sirak notes that Woods
may get support from his key partners, as the companies
"have huge international marketing agendas," with Nike, AmEx
and GM "the most prominent among them." Sirak adds that
"most sports-marketing experts believe the overseas market
offers the best growth potential for golf." IMG Founder
Mark McCormack said Woods has a "lot of alternatives" to
retaining his PGA Tour membership card. McCormack:
"Whatever Tiger decides to do, IMG and TWI will be right
behind him." In terms of the Tour's next TV deal, Sirak
cites an "internal report by one" TV network as saying that
through the first 32 PGA Tour events this year, the ratings
"for the 12 in which Woods was in contention were 113
percent higher than those for the 20 in which he did not
play or was not among the top five." But TV execs say that
the PGA Tour would still get an "enormous contract from the
networks" even if Woods should withdraw his Tour membership,
as Woods "could play in as many as nine events that are part
of the regular" PGA Tour TV deal. NBC Sports Chair Dick
Ebersol: "We would buy probably seven or eight events a year
from the tour. Tiger probably plays three or four. That's
not going to change much" (GOLF WORLD, 11/17 issue).
MERCEDES HALTS CAMPAIGN: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
reports that Mercedes "has stopped" running its ad campaign
in Golf World in which it congratulated the winner of each
week's Tour event. The campaign is "never to be repeated
again, for Woods or any other golfer." Mercedes Sports
Marketing Supervisor Steve Potter said that the decision
"reflected Mercedes' desire not to rile Woods." Potter said
Woods and IMG see the campaign "as an implied endorsement,
and while I don't think so, I see how they see it
differently. ... Tiger and [IMG's] Mark [Steinberg] were
frustrated, and we are not having a golf tournament to annoy
players" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/17). ESPN.com's Mike Tirico wrote
that the Woods/PGA Tour dilemma "lies" with implied
endorsements: "Any indication that [Woods and others] are
trying to grab money only for themselves from the TV deal is
completely misleading and totally false" (ESPN.com, 11/16).
TWO SIDES OF THE STORY: GOLF WORLD's John Hawkins
writes that it's "too easy -- and grossly inaccurate -- to
blame Woods' unrest on the long-standing feud" between IMG
and the Tour. Woods is "nothing if not his own man, advised
by IMG but unaffected by any clandestine agenda." Hawkins
adds that if the Tour were to "stop charging Woods
exorbitant fees to appear in non sanctioned events -- or
waive those fees altogether -- it would do wonders for the
relationship" (GOLF WORLD, 11/17 issue). In N.Y., Phil
Mushnick writes Woods' "argument is wrong because it's short
on merit. He's every bit as exploitive of the PGA Tour as
he claims it is of him. ... Woods selects the tour events he
plays in that best suit Tiger Woods, and not what's in the
best interests of the PGA Tour" (N.Y. POST, 11/17).
PLAYERS TAKE THEIR SWINGS: Greg Norman writes an Op-Ed
in support of Woods in GOLF WORLD and states that there are
too many situations "where we're competing against the
tour." He states players "have the right to go to any
corporation ourselves and negotiate the best deal we can,
but too often when we do, it seems we are bumping heads with
the company that's supposedly working for us" (GOLF WORLD,
11/17 issue). Tom Lehman, on a Tour/player dispute:
"Sometimes it takes a person like Tiger to say something.
Tiger has some very legitimate issues that need to be
addressed. It's not just for Tiger's benefit but for the
benefit of almost everybody" (AZ REPUBLIC, 11/16). But Tour
Policy Board member John Cook said the dispute "makes Tiger
sound bad, which he is not. Some of this makes him sound
like every other athlete in every other sport." Jay Haas:
"I don't see this as a big issue with the guys, but I'm
rowing a different boat than Tiger" (SUN-SENTINEL, 11/16).
