"Get out now, sponsors. The golf brand has been wrecked."

Not to sound like Tim Finchem...but there are so many more elements to golf tournament sponsorship than just Tiger Woods. The LA Times' Dan Neil--an incredible auto reviewer and Pulitzer winner--reinforces the that lack of sponsorship understanding in a point-misser piece suggesting Tiger's phony image means all of pro golf is a charade unworthy of corporate support.

Without Woods, the game trails off and rolls back into the weeds of cultural irrelevance, long weekend tourneys among more or less evenly matched men in more or less equally ugly clothes slapping balls around while the real players get loaded in corporate hospitality tents. There is no heroism in golf without Tiger -- at least the Tiger we thought we knew -- no drama, and scant male pulchritude besides. Unless your business is actual golf balls or clubs (Titleist or Ping or whatever), I'd say your marketing dollars could be best spent elsewhere.

And, of course, as a practical matter, there will be far fewer eyeballs watching golf on TV. Various estimates have the viewing audience sans Tiger dropping by 50%. Who knows if they'll ever come back.

The illusion that professional golf was somehow a sport with a higher calling, a game of honor and ethics played by fundamentally decent men, has been shattered. This isn't about counting strokes you took while nobody's watching. Tiger's trollop-taking is precisely the sort of thing we've come to expect from pro basketball and football players -- and, shamefully, our indifference implies consent. For the most dominant golfer of all time to be so caddish seems to be a signal that lesser golfers transgress in lesser degrees. In any event, the safe harbor of golf's presumed decency has been drained. Meanwhile, now that the tabloid press has had a taste for golfer flesh, I wouldn't be surprised if we have to live through a season of golf-related exposes. All the more reason for marketers to pull up stakes.

Apparently Tag Heuer didn't get the message. Their homepage today:

"Do You Still Support Tiger?"

Tiger's come to junk mail now...

Tiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Vol. 8

I can just feel the news cycle turning. First Tiger wins athlete of the decade, and now my peers voted him player of the year. Add having to accept that award in front of 300 members of the media on Wednesday of Masters week to the list of reasons he might think twice about returning to golf at Augusta.

In less cheery news, the NY Times's Michael Schmidt and Juliet Macur followed up today with sources suggesting the FBI is in fact focusing on Dr. Anthony Galea giving professional athletes performance-enhancing (and illegal) drugs.

The complaint said that Catalano told authorities that she planned to meet with Galea after crossing into the United States. The complaint made no reference to whether Catalano told authorities that Galea had provided performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes. But several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that she did.

Those who spoke about the matter said they did not want to be identified because they were discussing an active investigation.

Dan Herbeck in the Buffalo News (thanks reader Cardinal) has a source inside the investigation that says Tiger's name has not come up in anyway:

“I know of nothing that has come up in this investigation that would indicate Tiger Woods was using [performanceenhancing drugs], and I know of nothing that would put him into any trouble with law enforcement,” said one source close to the probe.

While Woods faces damaging fallout from recent revelations that he cheated on his wife with an assortment of mistresses, no evidence from the Galea investigation indicates that he cheated in his bodybuilding regime with steroids or human growth hormone drugs, four sources close to the investigation told The News.

And in an odd twist Galea's lawyer offered a non-denial denial related to Tiger and his former client:

“Any suggestion of any linkage to Tiger Woods is nonexistent,” Galea’s lawyer, Brian H. Greenspan, said outside a Toronto courtroom Friday. “I’m saying categorically it does not relate to anything that’s alleged before this court.”

I'm not sure anyone suggested Tiger was linked to the charges before the Canadian court, did they? Why offer that up?

Anyway, here are the details on the charges brought before the court Friday.

A few days ago, Rick Telander found Tiger guilty of using performance enhancing drugs:

The PGA, you know, never tested until a year ago for performance-enhancing drugs. And the tour's testing now is basically a joke. Old-schoolers have always dismissed the ludicrous notion that steroids or the like could help elite golfers, anyway. They used to say the same thing about major-league pitchers. Hi, Roger Clemens.

Woods has already displayed the quality of his ethical decision-making. And as a spiritual guide, his late dad, Earl Woods, now looks more like a Mike Agassi clone than a developmental saint.
Tiger Woods is your AP Athlete of the Decade, folks.

If he did use performance-enhancing drugs, wouldn't that be perfect?

Ken Belson on Tag Heuer limiting its Tiger Woods "exposure."

“The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue,” Jean-Christophe Babin, TAG Heuer’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “But we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, depending on his decision about returning to professional golf.”

Babin did not define what “downscale” meant. Advertisements featuring Woods have been prominent in luxury magazines, as well as billboards and other outdoor advertising. Babin said the company would still support the charitable Tiger Woods Foundation.

The WSJ suggests Tiger is making at least $2 million a year from Tag Heuer:

In 2002, Mr. Woods stopped promoting Rolex's Tudor, a watch he had pitched for about five years, after securing a deal with Tag Heuer, which paid him an estimated $2 million annually for a three-year pact, according to people close to the company. The pact was then renewed; it isn't clear what the new terms were.

Brian Viner interviews Peter Alliss and he certainly isn't holding back:

"No, it's very sad. Of course, people say his advisers must have known what was going on, and should have put a stop to it, but he's the goose that lays the golden eggs. If you'd worked for one of the old press barons, would you have gone up to Beaverbrook and told him to stop misbehaving? This is no different.

"We're supposed to feel sorry for his family. But I don't know his family. She [Elin] might be a cow to live with, I don't know. What I do know is that the jokes will go on for 20 years. 'In the hole, Tiger' has a whole new connotation now, and will he be able to put up with that? If he can, if he does go on to win another five majors to move ahead of Nicklaus, I think everything he's done in the last 12 years will pale into insignificance. It will be a huge achievement. Of course, you can gain forgiveness in America even from those who would like to whip you with thorn bushes or whatever. You can go on Oprah. You can own up to things, like Jimmy Swaggart, the evangelist. But that won't stop the jibes. And Tiger's a proud man. He'll hate the jibes. But he's got to re-enter society sometime."

Walter Pacheco of the Orlando Sentinel notes this change in the Arnold Palmer Invitational's website banner:

The New Yorker's John Cassidy notes this about Tiger's continued disappearance from visibility of any kind.

From the first day, when he refused to come out and say anything about his car wreck, Tiger has made a series of terrible moves, culminating in his decision to take an “indefinite” leave from professional golf. By pulling a Howard Hughes and disappearing from view, Tiger has left the field open for others, few of who have his best interests at heart, to shape the narrative in ways beneficial to them. What started out as a serious problem for Tiger has evolved into a career-threatening crisis. Unless he reverses course and tries to seize control of the story, his days as the world’s premier athlete-celebrity may be over.

And he notes that as a former senior editor at the New York Post...

where I helped to direct the coverage of the O.J. trial and other juicy yarns. Even back then, before the growth of the Internet, tabloid stories of a certain magnitude were capable of taking on a life of their own. Today, with TMZ.com, OMG!, People.com, Gawker, and who-knows how many other Web sites offering real-time coverage, the self-perpetuating nature of stories involving mega-celebrities is even more evident.

Rumors continue to circulate about Tiger's whereabouts, with the Palm Beach Post reporting on Privacy's location as of Thursday night.

And finally, Chelsea Handler lands the first interview with Tiger...



Finchem Should Do Video Conferences More Often

The scribblers didn't give Tim Finchem the best reviews yesterday on his teleconference performance and I must say his tone during the call was different from what was exhibited in his chats on CNBC, ESPN and The Golf Channel.

Maybe he should talk to the scribes on video? Ty, set that up please. Help the big guy out. It's going to be a long year.

Unfortunately we don't have images to see if he rekindled last year's kidnapping video sensibility, but Finchem did apparently talk to his players again via video and was a bit more candid than he was in talking to us lowly writers.  Sean Martin reports:

The nine-minute video appeared to have been filmed in the locker room at TPC Sawgrass. It was divided into three segments: "Business Update," "2010 Season," and "Tiger's Absence."

Way to weave those current events in!

In Thursday's press conference, Finchem denied reports that the Tour is having trouble securing sponsorship renewals. However, he said in Friday's video that he will travel to fewer events in 2010 as he focuses on securing those sponsorships.

“In 2010, this economy hasn’t gotten any better,” he said. “We have a lot more renewals for 2011. My focus, my priority is going to be the business of the PGA Tour. You may not see me out there as much.”

He sure knows how to spoil a PGA Tour pro's Christmas.

However, he did say 2010 should be a “very, very solid year” for the Tour. “We have a full schedule. We have playing opportunities that are very close to 2009. We will have prize money about the same, maybe a little higher than 2009. Our charity dollars will be up somewhat.”

Actually, it's down $4 million give or take a few dollars..

“I don’t want to misrepresent the facts. Tiger has a strong impact on the PGA Tour, but we can perform well, and perform adequately for our sponsors in his absence,” Finchem said.

“... But in the meantime, we need to do a little more work. Again, as I mentioned earlier, it’s incumbent on all of us in 2010 to work hard, continue that effort we had in 2009, and roll into 2010 with an upbeat attitude.”
Finchem asked players to continue an increased effort to interact with sponsors.

“As you did in 2009, stepping up and committing yourselves to extra effort for sponsors and tournaments, we want to carry that right into 2010,” he said. “... This helped us a lot in this downturn, and we need to do it again in 2010.”