Excel Sports Management's Mark Steinberg said that although Tiger Woods' new equipment sponsor TaylorMade is for sale, there was "never any discussion" about Woods' TGR company "acquiring any type of ownership or equity stake in the company," according to Bob Harig of ESPN.com. Woods will "eventually transition to TaylorMade irons, including wedges, but will have Nike irons in play this week" at the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open. He said, "They're allowing me to take my time and we're going to develop my irons and make the irons and the blades that I want and that will fit my game" (ESPN.com, 1/25). Golf Channel's Todd Lewis noted Woods will be "working with the R&D team to design and engineer an iron model over the course of the coming weeks/months," so there is "no definitive date as to when Tiger will have TaylorMade irons in his bag." Golf Channel’s Matt Adams: “It’s very significant in terms of who he decides to align himself with. ... The fact that he chooses a company like TaylorMade to align himself with is very good for TaylorMade, because what it does is it’s a pull-through. It pulls people in to the golf shops to say, ‘Hey, I want to see the driver that Tiger’s playing’ or ‘I want to see the irons that Tiger’s playing’” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 1/25). In Jacksonville, Garry Smits notes if Woods can "return to anything close" to the form that dominated golf earlier in his career, it will be a "boost to sagging equipment sales for TaylorMade and for the golf industry as a whole" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/26).
TOO MUCH RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE? In San Diego, Bryce Miller writes Woods' announcing his deal with TaylorMade "makes all the sense in the world … for the company." It "piggy-backs an avalanche of Tiger-related buzz." However, the timing "makes less sense for Woods, who must rebuild his game from the bag up with millions worldwide peeking over his shoulder" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/26).
