WALLACE, Nova Scotia - Tiger Woods said he had a "blast" at a fundraising event Friday at Fox Harb'r Golf Resort and Spa that included an exhibition with his swing coach Hank Haney and NBA legend Charles Barkley.
Woods, Haney and Barkley shared many laughs and barbs during a morning nine-hole exhibition match at the Fox Harb'r resort that was part of the Nike Golf Invitational event that raised funds for the Tiger Woods Foundation and Canadian junior golf.
"I've never been to this part of Canada before. It's really beautiful," Woods said. "The event was great, and it was really fun to play with my friends Hank and Charles. We don't get a chance to play with each other very often.
"I'm also thankful that we were able to raise a lot of money for my foundation and for Canadian junior golf," said the world's No. 1 golfer.
The event was attended by about 100 invited guests of Nike Golf Canada at the spectacular Fox Harb'r Resort created by Ron Joyce, founder of the Tim Hortons chain of about 3,450 restaurants in Canada and the United States.
"We were thrilled to host Tiger Woods at Fox Harb'r for this important fundraising event and to welcome him to Atlantic Canada," Joyce said. "The Nike Golf Invitational is a milestone event for Fox Harb'r to host the No. 1 player in the world and raise significant funds for the important work done by the Tiger Woods Foundation and for developing junior golf in Canada.
A special broadcast of the Nike Golf Invitational will air on TSN on Sunday, June 28 at 9 p.m. EDT that will include exclusive interviews with Woods, Haney and Barkley.
"We are grateful to have had the opportunity to provide an intimate setting for our partners to interact with Tiger Woods and to showcase spectacular Fox Harb'r and raise significant funds for young people," said Vitalis Gomes, Director of Marketing for Nike Golf Canada.
One of only four 5-star resorts in Canada, Fox Harb'r Golf Resort and Spa features the award-winning Graham Cooke-designed championship course as well as a sporting lodge, a luxury spa and wellness centre, a private 4885 ft. airstrip, marina, a private gated community and much more. For more information, visit www.foxharbr.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Located in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike Golf designs and markets golf equipment, apparel, balls, footwear, bags and accessories worldwide. Nike Golf is passionately dedicated to honouring and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game.
For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at www.nikegolf.ca. Editors and journalists seeking editorial information and downloadable images, visit www.nikegolf.com/presscenter.
Showing posts with label Tiger Woods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tiger Woods. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Irons Used by the Top 10 Players on the PGA Tour
Check out this link to view the irons used by the top 10 players on the PGA Tour!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Optimist Junior International Qualifier
The Canadian Junior Golf Association will be hosting its Optimist International Qualifier on May 23rd and 24th at Swan-e-set Bay Resort Golf Course.
Don’t Miss out as space is limited to 60 participants.
The Optimist is one of the largest and most prestigious junior golf events in the world. In addition to top-level tournament golf, participants have the opportunity to meet new friends and have a great deal of fun. Each year, more than 650 junior golfers from 25 countries participate and over 5,000 young people from the United States and Canada compete in qualifying tournaments.
Former participants in Optimist-sponsored events include: Bubba Dickerson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Michelle McGann, Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Nancy Lopez, Phil Mickelson, Nick Price, Corey Pavin, and Craig Stadler.
Visit www.cjga.com to register for the qualifier today.
Don’t Miss out as space is limited to 60 participants.
The Optimist is one of the largest and most prestigious junior golf events in the world. In addition to top-level tournament golf, participants have the opportunity to meet new friends and have a great deal of fun. Each year, more than 650 junior golfers from 25 countries participate and over 5,000 young people from the United States and Canada compete in qualifying tournaments.
Former participants in Optimist-sponsored events include: Bubba Dickerson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Michelle McGann, Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Nancy Lopez, Phil Mickelson, Nick Price, Corey Pavin, and Craig Stadler.
Visit www.cjga.com to register for the qualifier today.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Golf is good for you, says new study of its demands
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- Is golf really a sport or just a hobby?
Is it a good walk spoiled, or should we forget the walk and ask Santa for a golf cart this Christmas?
Would a PowerBar help more than an apple after nine holes, or should we forget 'em both and just wolf down another candy bar and Coke? And do you really have to have Tiger Woods' biceps to be any good?
A sports scientist pondering these and other 19th-hole kind of questions crunched a bunch of numbers and came up with answers, a few of which put a new twist on some age-old assumptions.
Among the top findings: Given the number of calories burned, it's certainly OK to call golf a sport.
"One of the more interesting things I found was that the actual act of swinging a golf club takes significant energy," said Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver.
Maybe more energy than many people might think for a motion that takes a grand total of about 3 seconds.
Wolkodoff found eight male volunteers, ages 26 to 61 with handicaps between 2 and 17, strapped them into some state-of-the-art equipment and took them out for a few rounds of golf on the hilly front nine of Inverness Golf Club in suburban Denver.
Wolkodoff discovered the subjects burned more calories when they walked and carried their clubs (721) than when they rode in a cart (411). When they walked, they traversed about 2.5 miles, compared to 0.5 miles when they rode, but the 500 percent increase in mileage corresponded to only a 75 percent increase in calories burned.
The conclusion was that the act of swinging the golf club could actually be considered good exercise -- a theory many on the "not a sport" side of the golf debate have long questioned.
"As far as physical exertion, it's not the same as boxing, but it's definitely more than people thought," Wolkodoff said.
But before all you golf addicts cancel those gym memberships and turn the treadmill into a permanent coat rack, consider this: While the 2,884 calories the average player might burn by walking 36 holes a week is considered good for health (studies have shown that those who burn 2,500 calories a week improve their overall health by lowering their risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer), it will do little to improve fitness -- meaning it won't increase your overall aerobic capacity.
Another thing the study showed is that being fit directly affects your ability to play good golf.
"You need to ask yourself, is the goal better fitness, or is it better fitness and better health?" Wolkodoff said.
Wolkodoff will soon submit the results of his test to the Journal of Applied Physiology, the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
For the test, Wolkodoff strapped subjects into equipment that measured, among other things, their heart rate, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production and how far they were walking. Each volunteer played four nine-hole rounds: one carrying the bag on their shoulder, one pushing the bag in a push-cart, one with a caddie and one in a golf cart.
All the subjects went through fitness tests before the experiment to establish what their baseline anaerobic thresholds were -- in other words, at what point they began to burn fuel without the help of oxygen. When people cross their anaerobic threshold, lactic acid begins to build, which makes muscles start to burn and causes fine-motor skills to deteriorate.
This is important in golf, especially for walkers, because the higher a player's anaerobic threshold, the more ability the player has to hike up steep hills or walk long distances quickly without losing the motor skills needed to execute many shots.
"When the motor skill start to go, you can get the yips, lose coordination," Wolkodoff said.
Among Wolkodoff's findings:
--There was virtually no difference in calories burned between carrying (721) and using a push cart (718) -- a surprising result to many, who figured it would take more work to push the cart.
"Normally, calories are measured on how much weight you had to move up a hill," he said. "But in this case, it shows that even with another 15, 16 pounds to push with the cart, you're more efficient at moving that way than if the bag is over your shoulder."
Not surprisingly, walking the course with a caddie carrying the clubs burned fewer calories (613) and playing while riding in a cart burned even fewer (411).
The fact that the energy consumed while carrying and pushing is nearly identical could bolster the idea that players using push carts get no competitive advantage over those who carry. The American Junior Golf Association recently decided to allow non-motorized carts in tournament play, in part to decrease back stress on young players.
--Players in Wolkodoff's tests scored best when using push carts and playing with a caddie. Their nine-hole averages (40 with push cart, 42 with caddie) were better than when riding in the motor cart (43).
Wolkodoff said that offered proof there could be a benefit to walking the course -- the way many golf purists insist the game should be played -- that outweighs the benefit of resting while driving to your ball in the cart.
"It gets back to the idea that walking gives you a certain amount of time to think about a shot, to rehearse, go through the stuff," he said. "Where in a golf cart, you're holding on, then, boom, you've got to get up, go to the ball and make a decision pretty quickly."
But the benefit of walking didn't outweigh the stress of looping the bag on and off your shoulder 40 or 50 times and lugging it around the course over the span of two hours. The average scores for the walk-and-carry rounds was 45.
"Some people say, 'I play better golf when I'm carrying,"' Wolkodoff said. "But this study says, 'No. A carry bag is not necessarily better.' It's not an intuitive thought for people."
--Players reached their peak heart rates at the top of two taxing, uphill holes. When they were carrying or pushing the cart, the peak heart rates went past their anaerobic thresholds, and Wolkodoff noticed a marked spike in scoring on the tougher of the two holes under these circumstances.
He attributes it to the buildup in lactic acid, which decreases fine motor skills. Returning below the threshold took 2 minutes to 3 minutes in some cases. So, the advice is, get in better shape to increase the anaerobic threshold so you don't find yourself going over it while playing golf. Good ways to improve golf fitness would be doing intervals on a treadmill or taking a spinning class.
"Weightlifting can come into play, too," Wolkodoff said. "As you go up a hill, whether you're carrying your own body weight, or a carry bag or a push cart, the stronger your arms and legs are, the better you can make it up that hill without fatigue."
--Wolkodoff measured subjects' respiratory exchange ratio (RER), which can be used to determine which fuels -- carbs or fats -- are being used during exercise. The RERs for all four tests were between 0.85 and 0.88, meaning players had shifted from burning all fat to using equal amounts of fats and carbohydrates, but hadn't yet reached the point where they were burning all carbs.
It means an energy bar with the approximately the same combination of what the players are burning -- like a Zone or Balance Bar -- is optimal for replenishment, and probably better than pure carbohydrates, such as the apple we often see Woods eating on the course ... or a bag of pretzels.
Not that it's any knock on Tiger's diet.
"The thing with Tiger is, he's not just eating the apple," Wolkodoff said. "He's had a good meal beforehand. If he had a regular Gatorade, that's the equivalent of eating five apples. If he eats one apple per round, or one per nine, he's just doing it to add a little energy and maybe fill up his stomach."
So, is golf a sport?
Answer: It certainly is a sport, but probably not the only sport you would need to play if you really want to get fit. But getting fit on the treadmill or in the weight room will definitely diminish fatigue on the golf course and, in turn, help you play better.
"The study shows there's significant energy expenditure in golf, more than bowling and some other sports it's been compared to," Wolkodoff said. "There are a lot of sports that don't have this level of energy expenditure."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Is it a good walk spoiled, or should we forget the walk and ask Santa for a golf cart this Christmas?
Would a PowerBar help more than an apple after nine holes, or should we forget 'em both and just wolf down another candy bar and Coke? And do you really have to have Tiger Woods' biceps to be any good?
A sports scientist pondering these and other 19th-hole kind of questions crunched a bunch of numbers and came up with answers, a few of which put a new twist on some age-old assumptions.
Among the top findings: Given the number of calories burned, it's certainly OK to call golf a sport.
"One of the more interesting things I found was that the actual act of swinging a golf club takes significant energy," said Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver.
Maybe more energy than many people might think for a motion that takes a grand total of about 3 seconds.
Wolkodoff found eight male volunteers, ages 26 to 61 with handicaps between 2 and 17, strapped them into some state-of-the-art equipment and took them out for a few rounds of golf on the hilly front nine of Inverness Golf Club in suburban Denver.
Wolkodoff discovered the subjects burned more calories when they walked and carried their clubs (721) than when they rode in a cart (411). When they walked, they traversed about 2.5 miles, compared to 0.5 miles when they rode, but the 500 percent increase in mileage corresponded to only a 75 percent increase in calories burned.
The conclusion was that the act of swinging the golf club could actually be considered good exercise -- a theory many on the "not a sport" side of the golf debate have long questioned.
"As far as physical exertion, it's not the same as boxing, but it's definitely more than people thought," Wolkodoff said.
But before all you golf addicts cancel those gym memberships and turn the treadmill into a permanent coat rack, consider this: While the 2,884 calories the average player might burn by walking 36 holes a week is considered good for health (studies have shown that those who burn 2,500 calories a week improve their overall health by lowering their risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer), it will do little to improve fitness -- meaning it won't increase your overall aerobic capacity.
Another thing the study showed is that being fit directly affects your ability to play good golf.
"You need to ask yourself, is the goal better fitness, or is it better fitness and better health?" Wolkodoff said.
Wolkodoff will soon submit the results of his test to the Journal of Applied Physiology, the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
For the test, Wolkodoff strapped subjects into equipment that measured, among other things, their heart rate, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production and how far they were walking. Each volunteer played four nine-hole rounds: one carrying the bag on their shoulder, one pushing the bag in a push-cart, one with a caddie and one in a golf cart.
All the subjects went through fitness tests before the experiment to establish what their baseline anaerobic thresholds were -- in other words, at what point they began to burn fuel without the help of oxygen. When people cross their anaerobic threshold, lactic acid begins to build, which makes muscles start to burn and causes fine-motor skills to deteriorate.
This is important in golf, especially for walkers, because the higher a player's anaerobic threshold, the more ability the player has to hike up steep hills or walk long distances quickly without losing the motor skills needed to execute many shots.
"When the motor skill start to go, you can get the yips, lose coordination," Wolkodoff said.
Among Wolkodoff's findings:
--There was virtually no difference in calories burned between carrying (721) and using a push cart (718) -- a surprising result to many, who figured it would take more work to push the cart.
"Normally, calories are measured on how much weight you had to move up a hill," he said. "But in this case, it shows that even with another 15, 16 pounds to push with the cart, you're more efficient at moving that way than if the bag is over your shoulder."
Not surprisingly, walking the course with a caddie carrying the clubs burned fewer calories (613) and playing while riding in a cart burned even fewer (411).
The fact that the energy consumed while carrying and pushing is nearly identical could bolster the idea that players using push carts get no competitive advantage over those who carry. The American Junior Golf Association recently decided to allow non-motorized carts in tournament play, in part to decrease back stress on young players.
--Players in Wolkodoff's tests scored best when using push carts and playing with a caddie. Their nine-hole averages (40 with push cart, 42 with caddie) were better than when riding in the motor cart (43).
Wolkodoff said that offered proof there could be a benefit to walking the course -- the way many golf purists insist the game should be played -- that outweighs the benefit of resting while driving to your ball in the cart.
"It gets back to the idea that walking gives you a certain amount of time to think about a shot, to rehearse, go through the stuff," he said. "Where in a golf cart, you're holding on, then, boom, you've got to get up, go to the ball and make a decision pretty quickly."
But the benefit of walking didn't outweigh the stress of looping the bag on and off your shoulder 40 or 50 times and lugging it around the course over the span of two hours. The average scores for the walk-and-carry rounds was 45.
"Some people say, 'I play better golf when I'm carrying,"' Wolkodoff said. "But this study says, 'No. A carry bag is not necessarily better.' It's not an intuitive thought for people."
--Players reached their peak heart rates at the top of two taxing, uphill holes. When they were carrying or pushing the cart, the peak heart rates went past their anaerobic thresholds, and Wolkodoff noticed a marked spike in scoring on the tougher of the two holes under these circumstances.
He attributes it to the buildup in lactic acid, which decreases fine motor skills. Returning below the threshold took 2 minutes to 3 minutes in some cases. So, the advice is, get in better shape to increase the anaerobic threshold so you don't find yourself going over it while playing golf. Good ways to improve golf fitness would be doing intervals on a treadmill or taking a spinning class.
"Weightlifting can come into play, too," Wolkodoff said. "As you go up a hill, whether you're carrying your own body weight, or a carry bag or a push cart, the stronger your arms and legs are, the better you can make it up that hill without fatigue."
--Wolkodoff measured subjects' respiratory exchange ratio (RER), which can be used to determine which fuels -- carbs or fats -- are being used during exercise. The RERs for all four tests were between 0.85 and 0.88, meaning players had shifted from burning all fat to using equal amounts of fats and carbohydrates, but hadn't yet reached the point where they were burning all carbs.
It means an energy bar with the approximately the same combination of what the players are burning -- like a Zone or Balance Bar -- is optimal for replenishment, and probably better than pure carbohydrates, such as the apple we often see Woods eating on the course ... or a bag of pretzels.
Not that it's any knock on Tiger's diet.
"The thing with Tiger is, he's not just eating the apple," Wolkodoff said. "He's had a good meal beforehand. If he had a regular Gatorade, that's the equivalent of eating five apples. If he eats one apple per round, or one per nine, he's just doing it to add a little energy and maybe fill up his stomach."
So, is golf a sport?
Answer: It certainly is a sport, but probably not the only sport you would need to play if you really want to get fit. But getting fit on the treadmill or in the weight room will definitely diminish fatigue on the golf course and, in turn, help you play better.
"The study shows there's significant energy expenditure in golf, more than bowling and some other sports it's been compared to," Wolkodoff said. "There are a lot of sports that don't have this level of energy expenditure."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Woods, GM end endorsement deal
GOLFWEEK STAFF
When Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour next season, he won’t be playing out of a Buick-logoed bag.
Buick-parent General Motors, struggling to stay afloat amid the worst sales environment in a quarter-century, announced Nov. 24 in a message to dealers that Woods no longer will pitch company products, effective at the end of this year.
Woods had one year remaining on a five-year deal worth $40 million, according to Advertising Age magazine.
“It’s with great emotion that I wish to inform you that the time has come forour longterm relationship with Tiger Woods to end,” Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, said in the e-mail announcement to employees, dealers, partners and suppliers.
According to the message and a subsequent news release by Buick, the break-up was amicable. A message left by Golfweek with Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, was not immediately returned.
“I am very proud of the long-standing partnership I’ve had with GM and have enjoyed being a part of the company’s dramatic product evolution,’’ Woods said in a statement.
Woods, who has won 65 Tour events, earns nearly $100 million annually from endorsements with such brands as Nike, EA Sports, American Express and Tag Heuer, among others, according to Ad Age.
In October, Buick approached Woods about the possibility of renewing the contract beyond 2010. However, in recent weeks, both sides re-evaluated their positions, according to a source close to the negotiations. Woods and wife Elin are expecting their second child early in ’09.
GM’s troubles have deepened in recent weeks, with chief executive Rick Wagoner joining CEOs from Ford and Chrysler in lobbying Capitol Hill for a federal bailout of the ailing automakers.
Earlier this month, GM reported a $2.5 billion quarterly loss and warned that by the end of the year it might reach the minimum level of cash needed to run the company.
Experts say a company that falls below minimum cash levels will have to stop paying some of its bills, a move that could force GM into bankruptcy protection. In that climate, marketing budgets are a prime target for cost savings.
Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president for North American marketing, said GM and Woods started discussing an end to the deal earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with GM’s quest for $25 billion in federal loans for the auto industry.
But the company’s statement said the decision was made as part of “the search for budget efficiencies during a difficult economy for General Motors.’’
GM is so concerned about costs that it cut advertising during the 2009 Super Bowl, although it still plans to sponsor the National Football League and likely air ads before and after the game. GM also has pulled out of the Oscars and Emmy awards in 2009 – the first time in more than a decade that it is not running ads before, during or after the two events.
U.S. automakers, the largest category of advertisers, cut ad spending 18 percent to $1.37 billion in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence in New York.
Foreign automakers also are trimming their spending on advertising in U.S. markets, with a 5.4 percent cut in the second quarter, for an overall 11 percent drop in U.S. auto ad spending to $3.27 billion, the 12th quarterly dip in a row.
“Everything we do right now we are taking a harder look at,” Larry Peck, Buick and Pontiac promotions manager, said of the break-up with Woods.
The decision to jettison Woods, the most-visible face of the Buick brand since January 2000, speaks volumes about the deteriorating economic climate for manufacturing and, perhaps, golf.
As part of his deal, Woods carried a Buick bag, appeared in Buick promotions and made personal appearances for the carmaker. He recently caddied for a contest winner at Torrey Pines, site of the Woods’ dramatic U.S. Open victory in June. Woods has not played since, recovering from knee surgery. His return date has been the subject of much conjecture.
Buick remains the official car of the PGA Tour, but it recently eliminated some regional relationships that will limit some tournaments’ use of Buick “courtesy cars’’ next year.
Buick still will sponsor two events on the PGA Tour, the Buick Invitational in February at Torrey Pines and the Buick Open in Flint, Mich., but those deals expire in 2010. With the mantra of cost savings, it’s unclear what will happen with those Tour stops in the future.
Hank Haney, Woods’ instructor, also had his endorsement deal cut short by a year. Haney had signed a three-year deal, which expires at the end of 2010.
“Our budgets are being reduced,” Peck said. “Most likely the money we are now saving will be put towards budget savings or cost elimination.”
When Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour next season, he won’t be playing out of a Buick-logoed bag.
Buick-parent General Motors, struggling to stay afloat amid the worst sales environment in a quarter-century, announced Nov. 24 in a message to dealers that Woods no longer will pitch company products, effective at the end of this year.
Woods had one year remaining on a five-year deal worth $40 million, according to Advertising Age magazine.
“It’s with great emotion that I wish to inform you that the time has come forour longterm relationship with Tiger Woods to end,” Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, said in the e-mail announcement to employees, dealers, partners and suppliers.
According to the message and a subsequent news release by Buick, the break-up was amicable. A message left by Golfweek with Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, was not immediately returned.
“I am very proud of the long-standing partnership I’ve had with GM and have enjoyed being a part of the company’s dramatic product evolution,’’ Woods said in a statement.
Woods, who has won 65 Tour events, earns nearly $100 million annually from endorsements with such brands as Nike, EA Sports, American Express and Tag Heuer, among others, according to Ad Age.
In October, Buick approached Woods about the possibility of renewing the contract beyond 2010. However, in recent weeks, both sides re-evaluated their positions, according to a source close to the negotiations. Woods and wife Elin are expecting their second child early in ’09.
GM’s troubles have deepened in recent weeks, with chief executive Rick Wagoner joining CEOs from Ford and Chrysler in lobbying Capitol Hill for a federal bailout of the ailing automakers.
Earlier this month, GM reported a $2.5 billion quarterly loss and warned that by the end of the year it might reach the minimum level of cash needed to run the company.
Experts say a company that falls below minimum cash levels will have to stop paying some of its bills, a move that could force GM into bankruptcy protection. In that climate, marketing budgets are a prime target for cost savings.
Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president for North American marketing, said GM and Woods started discussing an end to the deal earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with GM’s quest for $25 billion in federal loans for the auto industry.
But the company’s statement said the decision was made as part of “the search for budget efficiencies during a difficult economy for General Motors.’’
GM is so concerned about costs that it cut advertising during the 2009 Super Bowl, although it still plans to sponsor the National Football League and likely air ads before and after the game. GM also has pulled out of the Oscars and Emmy awards in 2009 – the first time in more than a decade that it is not running ads before, during or after the two events.
U.S. automakers, the largest category of advertisers, cut ad spending 18 percent to $1.37 billion in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence in New York.
Foreign automakers also are trimming their spending on advertising in U.S. markets, with a 5.4 percent cut in the second quarter, for an overall 11 percent drop in U.S. auto ad spending to $3.27 billion, the 12th quarterly dip in a row.
“Everything we do right now we are taking a harder look at,” Larry Peck, Buick and Pontiac promotions manager, said of the break-up with Woods.
The decision to jettison Woods, the most-visible face of the Buick brand since January 2000, speaks volumes about the deteriorating economic climate for manufacturing and, perhaps, golf.
As part of his deal, Woods carried a Buick bag, appeared in Buick promotions and made personal appearances for the carmaker. He recently caddied for a contest winner at Torrey Pines, site of the Woods’ dramatic U.S. Open victory in June. Woods has not played since, recovering from knee surgery. His return date has been the subject of much conjecture.
Buick remains the official car of the PGA Tour, but it recently eliminated some regional relationships that will limit some tournaments’ use of Buick “courtesy cars’’ next year.
Buick still will sponsor two events on the PGA Tour, the Buick Invitational in February at Torrey Pines and the Buick Open in Flint, Mich., but those deals expire in 2010. With the mantra of cost savings, it’s unclear what will happen with those Tour stops in the future.
Hank Haney, Woods’ instructor, also had his endorsement deal cut short by a year. Haney had signed a three-year deal, which expires at the end of 2010.
“Our budgets are being reduced,” Peck said. “Most likely the money we are now saving will be put towards budget savings or cost elimination.”
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