| | There is a simple way to explain the Tiger Woods-PGA Tour situation. As his sponsor, Buick pays Woods millions of dollars per year. Woods carries a bag with the Buick logo prominently displayed. Buick has contracted with Woods to be able to market him in their advertisements for their products (cars) and other functions.
|  | | Tiger Woods is in a position of power after his 10-victory season. |
Mercedes-Benz is the sponsor for the opening tournament on the PGA Tour, where the winners from the prior year play. Mercedes runs an advertisement each week in Golf World magazine, congratulating the person who won the PGA Tour event that week, accompanied with a photograph of the winner.
Nine times this year that photograph was of Tiger Woods.
And therein lies the dilemma.
Mercedes doesn't pay Woods a dime, but it is allowed to run an ad with his picture in it as often as he wins. Needless to say, this certainly upset the folks at Buick, and in turn upset Woods. If he's regularly appearing in ads for Mercedes, Woods feels he cannot honor his contract with Buick, which says Buick is the only automobile sponsor to represent him.
The Mercedes people aren't at fault here. This has been a long-standing issue for PGA Tour players. Mark O'Meara is sponsored by Toyota; if he wins a Mercedes tournament, they ask O'Meara to put a blazer on to cover his Toyota logo, so as not to step on Mercedes' toes. This has been a problem for many years and will probably continue.
Woods believes that if he -- or any other PGA Tour player -- makes a contract with a company, then the player should be in control of the situation just enough so that a comparable company (Buick to Mercedes, American Express to PriceWaterhouseCoopers) who may be sponsoring the Tour doesn't have the rights to use the player in their advertisements.
It is very hard to define whose responsibility it should be to keep everyone away from conflicting contracts. The PGA Tour has to cultivate the sponsors in order to hold the events -- and pay the extraordinary purses. There is a prestige that comes with being involved in corporate America that enables the Tour to hold the events in the first place.
I recently spent significant time in Spain, at the WGC American Express Championship at Valderrama, talking to Woods and his representatives about this issue. They want no part of the TV contract. Any indication that they are trying to grab money only for themselves from the TV deal is completely misleading and totally false.
People who are not familiar with the issue -- most of whom aren't familiar with golf -- have floated out this assumption that Woods wants the TV money. Anyone who thinks Woods has done this for a percentage of the new TV contract is completely off base. Woods has not asked for any part of the TV contract, nor does he want it. Nor does he want to separate himself from the PGA Tour.
Woods is keenly aware of history and his place in it. He very much wants to be a part of the PGA Tour and chase the records of Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus. He can't do that as a member of the European Tour.
At the end of the day, a better relationship between PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and Tiger Woods needs to develop.
In the commissioner's defense, I don't think he knew the relationship was becoming tenuous. It doesn't appear Finchem was aware of any sort of disagreement until it came out in this venue -- which was the improper place for it to come out. It ought to be handled in a meeting behind closed doors; not by way of the media.
Should Woods be treated differently than the other Tour players? You bet. Attendance and TV ratings clearly indicate he has brought a much higher level of exposure to golf than any other player currently on Tour. Michael Jordan had a unique and special relationship with David Stern; so did Wayne Gretzky and Gary Bettman. So should Finchem and Woods, for the long-term good of the individual and the sport. Going forward, both sides need to realize there is ground to cover together for everyone's long-term benefit.
This is not a crisis; to characterize it as one is overstating the facts. It is a bump in the road both sides need to pay significant attention to, because without Woods, the Tour hurts; and without the Tour, Woods' place in history hurts. Theirs is a symbiotic relationship, where both are significant to the growth of each. | |
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