Mark Steinberg turned on his mobile device a few hours after Tiger Woods, his longtime client, won his first golf tournament in five years. The emails and texts flooded in.
“Got on the plane last night and I had over 1,300 or 1,400 messages,” Steinberg said last Monday, a day after Woods won the Tour Championship. “I got on Wi-Fi, and literally all I did for two and a half hours was start to respond to them.”
Steinberg, who has represented Woods for 20 years, said the outpouring of congratulations, as well as interest in deals, was bigger than when the golfer had won a major championship.
There have been plenty of ups and downs during the last two decades, but on the Monday morning after Woods’ victory, Steinberg didn’t sound his usual self. He sounded tired, but also like somebody awed and humbled by gratitude.
“I’m just so happy for him — after what he’s been through and the work he’s put in both on and off the course,” he said. “He’s very deserving, and I think he is showing appreciation for it differently than he did years ago.”
Mark Steinberg has represented Tiger Woods, who won the Tour Championship last month, since 1998.Getty Images
The last time Woods won a tournament was at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013. Since then, he has been through four surgeries on his back and a well-publicized DUI arrest.
There were times that both Steinberg and Woods didn’t just doubt he would win another tournament, they questioned whether he’d be physically able to play in one. “Tiger would tell you there were many times we thought he would never step foot on a golf course again,” Steinberg said.
This year, after undergoing spinal-fusion surgery, he ended up playing the most PGA Tour events (19) than he had since 2012. But even though his appearances drew fans and increased ratings, many people inside the golf world doubted he could win again.
“I don’t think anybody expected him to win even six months ago,” said rival golf agent Rocky Hambric, who counts Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka among his clients. “And some people thought, ‘Why is he even doing this?’ And, obviously, in typical Tiger fashion, he showed golf.”
Woods flew to Paris last week to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup. Steinberg said that when he returns and gets time to decompress, they will sit down to sift through multiple sponsorship and other business offers for 2019.
“The sky is the limit now,” he said. “I’ve been in discussions with companies for several months. We are going to have to decide what we are going to do.”
Steinberg wondered whether Woods would be able to physically play golf again, following four back surgeries. Getty Images
Woods already has a full plate of sponsors “who have stuck with us,” Steinberg said, including Nike. “The number of events who want him to appear overseas is probably higher than it was in the quote-unquote heyday,” he added.
Additionally, the timing of Woods’ win is fortuitous in light of his $9 million pay-per-view match with Phil Mickelson set for the day after Thanksgiving. Woods, Mickelson and their caddies will be miked for the event, Steinberg said, allowing fans to experience a less sterile view of golf.
“They are going to talk trash,” he said. “People are going to be like, ‘That’s kind of cool. I didn’t know that is the type of stuff they say to each other on the golf course.’”
Steinberg has represented Woods since 1998, when both were at IMG. In 2011, Steinberg joined Excel Sports Management as a partner. In addition to Woods, Excel and Steinberg also represent Justin Rose, who won the $10 million FedEx Cup this year.
“It’s been an awesome time for us as a company,” Steinberg said.
