Faldo Avenges Tilghman's Attention Draining Remarks With His Own Off Base Comments

Nick and Kelly have a Bill and Hillary thing going. He just can't take all the attention she's getting, so he sticks his foot in his mouth. Touching, except perhaps to the Golf Channel Apologies Department which has already spent years defending Mike Ritz. 

Lawrence Donegan sums up the comments that came during Sunday's early morning telecast of the WGC Match Play:

During coverage of the WGC World Match Play in Tucson the six-times major winner, who is paid a reported $3m (£1.5m) a year to host coverage of the PGA tour, made unfavourable comparisons between balls made by TaylorMade and the Nike balls used by Tiger Woods, below, and Stewart Cink. Faldo signed a sponsorship deal with TaylorMade last Wednesday.

Steve Elling added this:

Golf Channel play-by-play analyst Kelly Tilghman noted on the air that it was an all-Nike final. That, in itself, sounded like a free plug, since Tilghman last December emceed a Nike outing for Woods in South Florida.

But Faldo, who also works for CBS Sports, went a step farther on the conflict-of-interest front. A few weeks after signing a new endorsement deal with TaylorMade, he launched into a lengthy discourse about the superiority of the TaylorMade golf ball, and noted how only certain players with high skill levels should bother using the Nike ball, lest it fall out of the sky. Faldo once endorsed the Nike line.

Hot off the Apology Dept. presses:

"Nick Faldo is one of the best in the business because of his experience and insight, and viewers enjoy that," the network statement read. "But his opinions do not always reflect those of the Golf Channel. In this particular instance -- although he referenced published research -- using the Golf Channel in this context was not appropriate. Nick realized this and set the record straight with our viewers in a timely manner."

A Nike spokesperson said the company was surprised that Faldo would take such a stance, but otherwise took the high road.

"We were disappointed in Nick Faldo’s comments, especially given the fact that he referenced golf product that was totally unrelated to what was happening during the competition itself," Nike spokesperson Beth Gast said Sunday night."These comments were all the more inappropriate having come just days after he signed with TaylorMade-adidas. He has apologized on air and we consider this isolated incident as closed."

Sure, after another week's worth of debate. And that's before Golfweek runs a cover featuring a pair of Taylor Made balls replacing Faldo's testicles.

Comments

[Pickworth]

Now, I'd love to see a photo of Ian Poulter with Nick Faldo's testicles. Soon.

[Fred]

Least he gave them something to talk about during an absolute borefest.

Speaking of testicles.........I believe every other professional golfer is looking for there's as they contnue to choke at the sight of Tiger.

[Toonamint of Champions]

Then by God don't say anything about how great and wonderful the golf course is, either! It's a product, too.

[jneu]

It was a rare moment when truth was spoken on a golf telecast. Have you ever heard anyone else say that amateurs really shouldn't use equipment selected by the pros, because our needs are so different? Nice job, Nick, undermining every single commercial on the network. (Except, y'know, the tiny handful of ads for The Big Break.)

[Yougmanbirdie]

The fact that it was an all-Nike final begged for a comment, but both Faldo and Tilghman were ill-equipped to do so because of inherent conflicts of interest (Faldo endorsing TaylorMade and Tilghman getting paid to host a Nike media event last December). It's a good reason why broadcasters should steer clear of getting involved with any golf companies, but the whole industry is riddled with conflicts of interest. How can anyone really take seriously the equipment reviews in Golf Digest and Golf Magazine? Are they really going to be truthful if something stinks and risk losing advertising? I think not. That said, I was impressed with Golf Magazine's ball-fitting story that Faldo referenced. At least they didn't seem afraid of upsetting advertisers, which is a feat in and of itself.

[Iggy]

You want controversy? Get Gary Busey in Golf Channel's announcing booth.

[JackM]

Jim Nantz cuts to commercial during a broadcast and we hear....Jim Nantz narrating Titleist commercials. Sheesh.

[Ronald Montesano]

Whom did he offend, an Oregon capitalist ethnic group? We are a lame representation of our race at times.

[Smolmania]

Having recently returned to the television world (after 18 months without), all I can say is thank goodness for the digital video recorder. I don't know how I watched golf on television before. You say the announcers are bad? Who cares, I'm just ffwding right through their pithy thoughts.