Tiger Woods To Build Home In Dubai To Help The Keep Other Empty Mansions Company

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Erik Matuszewski of Bloomberg News reports the "news" that Tiger is in fact so drawn to the area, he's already reviewing floor plans and building a home away from home. I'm sure it wasn't included in his deal. Nope, no way. He just loves the area and all of those other empty neighborhoods that 60 Minutes showed us.

Tiger Woods plans to build a 16,500- square-foot mansion, complete with gym, theater, library and pool, that will overlook the private Al Ruwaya golf course he's designing in Dubai.

Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer, has selected one of the property's 287 home sites, which sell for between $12 million and $23 million, and is reviewing floor plans for his residence.

``He's been very interested in this Arabian concept that we've put to blend with the golf course,'' Abdulla Al Gurg, project manager for the Tiger Woods Dubai development, said today in an interview in New York.
Uh huh.
Al Gurg, 27, wouldn't disclose the location of Woods's future home on the 7,800-yard, par-72 course for security reasons. He said it wouldn't be among the biggest in the ``exclusive,'' invitation-only community.

There are 22 planned palaces that will average 33,000 square feet of living space and boast 10 to 12 bedrooms.

Three holes -- the par-3 12th, par-4 17th and par-4 18th -- have been laid out at the Al Ruwaya course, which is scheduled to open in late 2009. Also under construction are the clubhouse and an 80-room boutique hotel. Many of the property's 10,000- square-foot signature luxury villas will be completed by March 2010 and Al Gurg said demand has been high.

``The target market for these villas is not an investor profile,'' Al Gurg said. ``The target market is maybe a secondary homeowner or a trophy real-estate owner -- a person who actually owns a few villas and wants to have a piece of the Tiger Woods Dubai and the first-ever golf course designed by Tiger.''

That's me! 

Meanwhile reader Chip caught this AP piece proclaiming the completion of three holes (on paper?) and Al Gurg has some more to say about Tiger's design.

Tiger Woods has completed the designs for three holes on his first golf course in Dubai, and it doesn't look like he's too concerned about the area's desert terrain.

Woods and his design company are developing a 7,800-yard, par-72 course called Al Ruwaya in Dubailand, the region's largest tourism and leisure project. It's the marquee attraction in a 55-million square-foot development that also will include a hotel, golf academy, community center and luxury homes.

Woods' three completed holes feature lush greenery, including grass and shrubs, and greens well protected by bunkers or water. It's the first glimpse of his course style since he created Tiger Woods Design last year.

"The complexity in those three holes ... has set a different benchmark in the golfing industry," said Abdulla Al Gurg, the project director for The Tiger Woods Dubai.

I do believe those are three holes completed on paper. Not the ground.

Tiger Speaks...

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He denies the split-with-Haney rumors and reveals that Sam has already held a club, but it's seven months before she's required to swing it. I know this vital information makes your day, but hey, it's a slow news day.

It appears the Woods web site comments were in response to this John Hawkins column. Of course, Woods could have put this to rest with a stronger answer when he met with the press in Boston. 

 

More On Tiger's First U.S. Design

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asset_upload_file452_3651.jpgLinks editor Hunki Yun pens the most extensive feature I've read to date on Tiger Woods's first U.S. course design at The Cliffs. The spread also features easily the best lit staged architect-developer photo of all time (left). Nice use of reflectors boys! Though way too much Dockers ad for my taste.

Anyway...

Anthony contacted Woods in February, and a major factor in Woods’ decision was the Cliffs’—and Anthony’s—emphasis on health and wellness, which mirrors Woods’ values. In the spirit of fitness, Anthony and Woods originally announced that High Carolina would be walking only. But in the only misstep of the day, they later clarified that walking will be encouraged but not required.

Oh well.

There remains the considerable task of building a course worthy of the hype, not to mention Woods’ fee, estimated to be more than $20 million including real estate sales incentives—nearly 10 times the highest previous going rate. The Cliffs is still working on the permitting for the site, which sits at about 4,000 feet and features 50-mile views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Meanwhile Woods’ design team, led by Beau Welling, formerly Fazio’s top man, has yet to finalize a routing—construction is not likely to begin until mid-2008 and the course won’t open for at least two years after that.

I'm sure we won't hear a thing about it between now and then.

"Woods even picked out the flavors himself"

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This man is hands-on! And it's definitely a slow news day since I see nearly every paper online picked up this vital story.

Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink next year under an endorsement deal announced Tuesday with Gatorade that marks a couple of firsts for the world's No. 1 golfer — his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement.

Gatorade said it will introduce "Gatorade Tiger" in March, with more products to follow. Woods even picked out the flavors himself, with the drink available in a cherry blend, citrus blend and grape.
That's so good to know!
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Golfweek magazine reported last month it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million, moving him closer to the $1 billion mark in career endorsements.

"There have been some licensing elements to things we've done," said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, who cited video games produced by EA Sports as an example. "But everything he does with Gatorade is going to be creating new products. It's something Tiger and I and our licensing business has been looking at for some time."
Fascinating! 
"Gatorade has been part of my game plan for years, whether I'm training or competing, so this is an ideal match," Woods said in a statement. "I'm eager to launch my first signature product in a few months and look forward to developing additional sports performance beverages with Gatorade in the coming years."

It's almost like he said that himself. Almost.

Woods, with 61 victories on the PGA Tour and 13 major championships, joins a stable of star athletes at Gatorade — Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and Mia Hamm. None of those athletes has licensing deals, which also is a first for Gatorade, a division of PepsiCo.

"His iconic nature resonates everywhere he goes," said Jeff Urban, senior vice president of Gatorade. "Bridging that iconic nature with his will to win, those things make this a big deal for us."

Urban said it was too early to say how Gatorade would market Woods and his new product line, especially since the drink will not be available until the spring.

On pins and needles here.

The company released video of Woods going through sweat analysis testing with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, which tested such things as his sweat rate and energy needs during exercise.

Woods has endorsed everything from sports equipment and apparel (Nike) to financial services (Accenture) to automobiles (Buick) to shaving products (Gillette). His first beverage deal comes after 11 years as a professional.

"We wanted to get away from a straight endorsement deal in the beverage category," Steinberg said. "We thought this would be the best fit for his first licensing deal. It's authentic to what Tiger does every day, as hard as he works out every day."

Okay I gotta cut this one off.

Woods Skips Christening, U.S. Media Skips The Story

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I missed this story last week while traveling but I'm not sure what excuse the golf press has for not reporting it. Here it is, first reported (in English) by Marcus Oscarsson in the Times:

The golfer Tiger Woods has missed the baptism in Sweden of his three-month-old daughter, Sam, according to Swedish media reports.

Woods is married to the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, whose family turned out in force for the christening ceremony in Stockholm yesterday. But one source close to the family said: "“Everybody was very surprised over the fact that Tiger did not show up.”

This Daily Express story explored things a bit more:

While the traditional christening was important to Elin and her family, insiders said Woods’s Buddhist beliefs meant the ceremony was less of a priority.

However, photos of Woods, 31, posing with his arms around Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher at the fund-raiser 6,000 miles away merely fuelled gossip. One columnist wrote: “Hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner?

“Couldn’t he and Elin, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen TV ads – then had their daughter baptised?”

Elin’s Swedish relatives were reportedly “very surprised” her husband was not there.

After flying into Stockholm on a private jet, Elin, 27, and baby Sam Alexis Woods were picked up by the model’s twin sister Josefin and the baby was christened in a specially decorated gymnasium. Meanwhile, last Saturday’s Tiger Woods Block Party in California raised £500,000 for a school learning programme.

A friend said Woods was “in great spirits”, adding: “He was the life and soul of the party. We had no idea his baby was being christened on the same weekend.”

Allan Maki in the Globe and Mail was the only writer to question Tiger's decision:

But hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner? Couldn’t he and his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen new TV ads – then had their three-month-old daughter baptized?

Now, I could care less what Tiger does or does not do with his spare time. And frankly, I can't say I blame him for skipping a baptism in a gymnasium halfway around the globe.

But considering that way too many questions asked of Tiger this year in press conferences were schmaltzy, lame and mindless softballs revolving around the birth of his daughter, resulting in countless "fatherhood will make him a more complete man" columns, shouldn't some of the scribblers who peddled that at least report this?

Stevie The "Sportsman" Makes Massive Donation

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You know when a caddie is making $1 million donations and establishing his own foundation, that his loop is just really, really good. Especially since the looper in question has about as much personality as...oh how dare I? He loves children:

Williams announced the donation to hospital staff, patients and their families during a holiday in New Zealand.

"My wife Kirsty and I decided we wanted the foundation to support another area that was in real need, where we could make a big difference," Williams said.

"We talked to the Starship Foundation and were immediately sold on the Starship cancer ward.
This left me confused:
Williams has been caddie to Woods, the world golf No.1, since 1999, and is one of the highest-earning New Zealand sportsmen.

Sportsmen? Did he win the World Camera Tossing contest? When did caddying become a sport? 

He is also a New Zealand speedway motor racing champion.

Oh, sorry. 

Report: Game Would Not Be Where It Is Without Tiger

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This one reeks of a managing editor in features telling a sports editor that he had this great idea over the weekend: tell our readers what golf would have been like without Tiger Woods coming along. Bet there was lots of head nodding and back massaging going around the editors room down in central Florida over this one.

 Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel was given the uneviable task of researching this unresearchable story.

Here's a real newsflash:

Considering how Woods has altered the game, there's reason to believe his absence would have stunted the sport's growth.

"Would the game be as exciting? Probably not," said David Leadbetter, the famous golf coach of players such as Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Nick Price. "He makes golf interesting everywhere, from the prize money to TV to the international aspect of it. You can go anywhere in the world, and in all probability, they've heard of Tiger Woods. The game hasn't always had that, and I don't know if it would without him."

 

Overheard In Palm Beach...

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Totally unsubstantiated, entirely unconfirmed and coming from disreputable sources (golf business people!), a whopping three people have told me (unsolicited) over the last few days that Tiger Woods is eyeing property on Bridge Road, the main route from I-95 into his future home in bucolic Hobe Sound. 

My lousy sources weren't sure if this was a site for his own private course or a private club, ala Greg Norman's nearby Medalist or Pete Dye's new Dye Preserve.

I had the privilege of driving Bridge Road today and I can tell you the elevation change must be at least 3 feet in spots. Though I'm pretty sure I spotted some properties on the south side that were not swamps filled with aligators.

If I were Tiger, I would buy one of the south side ranches that is for sale, keep the discreet dirt road entry, and build a fun course for myself and friends. Oh and have someone good design it.

Tiger Already Easing Sam Into The Family Design Business

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Jeese, even Jackie didn't get started this young.

From today' press conference to plug the Target World Challenge:

Q.  A question for both of your tournaments.  We had news last week about '09.  I wondered if you're getting closer to maybe anchoring your tournament to Congressional.  The other thought is, with two golf tournaments to play, and a golf course design business developing, how are you going to juggle all those things with time?

TIGER WOODS:  Well, as far as Congressional, we're still working on that.  We'll have a better idea for you probably towards the end of the year and early next year, what we're going to do.

As far as the two tournaments, then juggling the golf course design business, I think the golf course design part of it is something I'm really looking forward to, I'm really excited about.  It's been a lot of fun and eye‑opening to be involved in that.  Something I've always wanted to do.

As far as the time commitments, that's something that I've been trying to work.  Obviously some things are going to have to probably go away to make time for that.  My most important thing right now is my family, being around Sam as much as I possibly can.  The golf course design stuff, the reason why I like it so much, is I can hop in, hop back, still be at home.  A lot of stuff that we do, I can actually take her to these sites, walk the golf course with me, walk properties.  I think that's been a lot of fun for all of us.

Poor thing, having to stomp through the Dubai desert before her first birthday! 

Tiger Not Playing An Official Event Until The Buick?

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Thomas Bonk is usually right about Tiger's playing intentions, and he noted this in today's LA Times golf column:
And one final note on Woods: Don't expect him to play his first PGA Tour event of 2008 until the Buick Invitational, Jan. 24-27, meaning that he'll probably skip the Mercedes Championships at Kapalua for the third consecutive year.

"Maybe now he'll start leaving decent tips."

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Gary Van Sickle hands out FedEx Cup awards, including this one for Tiger:

Jed Clampett Award: The richest man in golf is Woods. He won seven times in 16 appearances and cleared $10 million for the year. At the Tour Championship, he snagged $1.26 million for the tournament victory and the famously deferred $10 million for capturing the FedEx Cup title. Maybe now he'll start leaving decent tips.

Meanwhile Doug Ferguson lauds the FedEx Cup's success and examines the problems with various "tweaks" to the Cup, including one that I initially thought was an essential fix. Now I'm not so sure the field sizes should change if the points volatility is improved, as expected.

Furyk offered the most comical assessment by noting that 125 players keep their cards, but 144 players start the playoffs. But the season began with 225 exempt players, so actually only 64 percent made the playoffs.

The biggest problem with this solution is that short fields make for dull tournaments and a lousy experience for the fans. Consider the 70-man field at Cog Hill, where an entire day of golf was over in six hours. There has to be consideration given to the tournament and its fan base. Plus, it's harder to win against a larger field.

The limited field events really are getting old, not because Tiger always wins them, but because you sense they might introduce more leaderboard competition as we saw at the first two playoff events. 

"They're not making it public yet, but they're done. And you can tell by the way he's swinging the golf club." **

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Based on the improved look of Tiger's swing and an inside source, Steve Eubanks blogs that Tiger Woods and Hank Haney have split up.

Before the start of the second round of the Tour Championship, Butch Harmon nudged Adam Scott in the ribs and said, "It's pretty sweet that Tiger's trying to swing like you now."

In fact, there have been some noticeable changes in Tiger's swing of late. Gone are the exaggerated follow-throughs, the long, flat backswings, and the flat left wrist. The Tiger of today looks remarkably similar to the Tiger of 2001, a time when everyone said Scott's swing looked just like Tiger's. According to those in a position to know such things, there might be a good reason for Tiger's new look. According to sources close to the situation, Tiger and Hank Haney are, in a word, done. As one source put it, "They're not making it public yet, but they're done. And you can tell by the way he's swinging the golf club."

If true, this has been coming for some time. As early as April, when Tiger finished second at Augusta after hitting tee shots in every direction, he was observed making some curt comments to his instructor. At one point, the number-one player in the world turned to Haney on the driving range and said, "Get the f--- away from me."

Then in August, Haney signed on as the new director of the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head, Island, a move that had many people wondering how Tiger's coach planned to balance his instructor duties with the demands of running a full-time school.

The final clue came this week when Haney was nowhere to be seen during The Tour Championship. With $10 million on the line, most coaches would have at least made a cursory appearance.

While no one in either camp would confirm the rumors at this time, evidence is mounting of a split. Stay tuned.