Friday, June 2, 2000
Tiger decides to stick with
Nike ball
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
Tiger Woods is making the switch to the
swoosh.
After testing a new ball during competition
in Germany and in the Memorial Tournament, Woods said Thursday
he will formally switch to the Nike Tour Accuracy ball when he
plays the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in two weeks.
Woods finished third in the Deutsche Bank
Open, and then won the Memorial last week by five strokes.
“I think it's done pretty good so far,”
he said last week.
The announcement officially ends a marketing
conflict between Woods' top two golf sponsors — Nike and
Titleist — that began last year when Nike entered the ball
market.
Titleist argued that Nike was using Woods
to promote golf balls because of two commercials — one that
showed Woods bouncing a ball off his wedge, another that showed
hackers on the range belting 300-yard drives as soon as Woods
showed up.
CEO Wally Uihlein contemplated a lawsuit,
but instead reworked Woods' deal so that he was paid only when
he used Titleist equipment in tournaments. Titleist also gave
up its right to have its logo on his bag and to use Woods in advertisements.
“Clearly, these were signs and signals
suggestive that different futures were in the cards for both parties,”
Uihlein said in a statement Thursday. “Titleist has never
been about one player, but rather a 50-year history of being the
most played ball by more of the best players.”
Woods was in Oregon on Thursday for a dedication
at Pumpkin Ridge, where he won his third straight U.S. Amateur,
and to attend a Nike sales meeting.
“I understand the conflicts that were
inherent in Nike's introduction of a golf ball,” Woods said
in a statement through IMG. “I especially appreciate the
way Wally, personally, and Titleist have handled this in a professional
manner.”
Woods is expected to continue playing Titleist
clubs.
He began testing balls earlier this year
while at home in Florida, and he put the Nike ball in play for
the first time in Germany.
The Tour Accuracy version he played the
past two weeks is a multilayer ball that spins less, something
Woods has been working on the past year.
“Obviously, it feels different,”
he said last week at the Memorial. “Any time you hit a two-piece
ball versus a wound ball, you're going to feel a dramatic difference.
But the performance, the cover, feels very similar to mine.”
Woods said the wound ball tended to peak
a little more in flight, while two-piece balls were more likely
to be a little more flat.
“It's going to fly a little bit different.
It will just take some time getting used to that,” he said.
The fact Woods has officially switched balls
could be a boost to Nike Golf, which only has about 1 percent
of the ball market share.
“If he decides to switch, it's an earthquake,”
Bob Wood, president of Nike Golf, said when Woods first used the
ball in Germany.
It was not immediately clear how the announcement
would affect ongoing negotiations with Woods for a new Nike deal.
Nike spokesman Mike Kelly said if Woods did use the ball, his
original five-year contract likely would be amended.
Golf World Business reported that Woods'
camp was looking over two proposals from Nike — one in which
he used the ball.
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