Casey Apology Tour

Paul Hayward in the (UK) Telegraph offers a provocative commentary on Paul Casey’s recent Nike-coordinated apology campaign.

“For piety, nothing quite beats Nike's decision to consult Tiger Woods and senior US Tour officials before offering Casey a contract to wear their gear,” Hayward. “The world is off its moral axis when a company who have been accused of employing cheap labour in sweatshops become the moral arbiters on a golfer's personal opinions.

“This little display of corporate self-righteousness has sent the thought police scuttling through sport. The message to young athletes is now clear: Nike will control not just what you wear but what you think. If Woods did not have the swoosh tattooed on his soul, he would have told the suits from Nike to get lost.”

Meanwhile in SI a couple of weeks ago, Alan Shipnuck offered an excellent profile of Casey (subscription required). And it included this claim from Wally Uhlien, CEO of Acushnet, who issued a press release to announce that the company was severing ties with Casey over his comments, even though the sides had already agreed to go their own separate ways.

"We were receiving 25 to 50 e-mails per hour from U.S.-based customers threatening to boycott our products unless we clarified our position with Paul Casey. Players want to be independent contractors, free to say what they want to say. But they also want to be paid for representing the company. When any personal-opinion comments are made by a player, it is possible that those comments can put the company they are associated with in a lose-lose situation.”

Uh, 25 to 50 emails per hour? Were there 25 people in the United States who knew Casey was with Titliest before the press release?