Woods Taking Care of Business, and It’s Taking Care of Him

With the residual value of Tiger Woods never stronger, thanks to his six-tournament winning streak, this could be a good time to check out the paper trail following him.

That’s paper, as in money.

What’s the bottom line? Put it this way: When Woods signs his scorecard for his financial well-being, he writes down eagle.

Best estimates of Woods’ endorsement income for 2000 are nearly $45 million. That would place Woods in some exclusive company, second only to Michael Jordan, whose endorsement income was estimated at $69 million in a study by Forbes magazine several months ago.

Jordan’s endorsements totaled $45.7 million in 1998, according to the same Forbes survey.

As for Woods, he isn’t merely breaking new ground for golf, he is bulldozing it.

“Things are absolutely unbelievable,” said Mark Steinberg of IMG, which represents Woods.

“Since his winning streak, we’ve gotten calls, faxes, invitations, e-mails, you name it,” Steinberg said. “But the most important thing for us on our end is to do business as usual. He’s on such an even keel, the business side of Tiger should conduct itself in the same way.”

The list of companies Woods endorses is noteworthy not only for its length, but also for its variety--Nike, Titleist, General Motors (Buick), American Express, EA Sports, Asahi Beverages, TLC Laser Eye Centers, Rolex Tudor, Wheaties and Golf Digest.

Steinberg recently renewed Woods’ deals with Titleist, Asahi Beverages, Wheaties and Golf Digest and is negotiating with Nike to extend Tiger’s five-year, $40-million endorsement contract for apparel and footwear that he signed in 1996. The most persistent new business interests pursuing Woods are Internet sites, according to Steinberg, who said he has fielded at least 10 offers for Woods to promote their specific sites. However, Steinberg said Woods is happy with his on-line partners, CBS Sportsline and EA Sports, and has no interest in expanding his business elsewhere.

MORE TIGER

In addition to his 17 PGA Tour victories, Woods has six others worldwide. His total prize money: $15,431,832.

For the record, Woods’ six non-PGA Tour wins are the 1997 Asian Honda Classic, the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic, the 1998 PGA Grand Slam, the 1999 Deutsche Bank-SAP, the 1999 World Cup and the 1999 PGA Grand Slam.

EVEN MORE TIGER

Of course, Woods is No. 1 in the latest official world golf rankings, but his 21.83-point average is the highest ever recorded. His 9.41-point margin over No. 2 David Duval is also a record.

Woods broke his own records from last year, when his 20.61-point average and 7.46-point margin over No. 2 Duval were the best ever.

STILL MORE

Want to play a round of golf with Woods? Well, you can. Ultimatebid.com will auction off a round of golf with Woods, which is expected to cost (take a deep breath) $350,000.

LAST TIGER

Woods has gotten a lot of attention in Las Vegas too, where Bally’s listed the latest pre-tournament odds on Woods winning the Buick vs. the rest of the field: wager $100 to win $350 on Woods or wager $500 on the field to win $100.

PROBABLY

Jordan was supposed to be Woods’ amateur partner at Pebble Beach but couldn’t play because of his new duties with the NBA Washington Wizards. That doesn’t mean Jordan was happy about missing out on Woods’ dramatic victory.

“I’m ticked because I was supposed to be there . . . right there by his side when he was doing it,” Jordan told the Washington Post.

“But I knew if I was there, you [reporters] would have killed me in the papers for not being on my new job.”

And would Woods have won at Pebble with the dog-and-pony show of playing in the same group with Jordan instead of Tiger’s mellow Stanford buddy, Jerry Chang?

NO ANNIKA

Why isn’t Annika Sorenstam playing today in the Los Angeles Women’s Championship?

She wanted to and the tournament thought she was in the field at Wood Ranch in Simi Valley, but a set of unfortunate circumstances involving a breakdown in communication with the LPGA kept her out.

Steinberg, who represents Sorenstam, received a call Jan. 6 from the LPGA, asking whether she was going to commit. The LPGA is unlike the PGA Tour, which permits agents to commit their players to events as long as the agents have power of attorney for their clients. That meant Steinberg could not commit Sorenstam.

Six days later, Sorenstam called the LPGA and verbally committed. And the LPGA Tour mailed a confirmation to Sorenstam. However, Sorenstam never received the letter and the LPGA told Steinberg it had no record of Sorenstam’s verbal commitment.

Steinberg appealed to LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw, who said that rules are rules.

“It’s one of those things where it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Steinberg said. “Given the circumstances, they should have allowed it.

“To say she is upset is a drastic understatement.”

COLOR HIM . . . WHAT?

Paul Azinger said former Ryder Cup teammate Ken Green was color blind, a factor that may have affected Green’s relationship with his wife--now, ex-wife.

Said Azinger: “I think the way she dressed him was her way of getting back at him.”

IT’S A PAY DAY

The last piece of fallout (let’s hope) from the U.S. Ryder Cup team compensation issue of last fall has hit the ground. Last week, the PGA of America announced that $2.6 million will be distributed among 34 different charities and universities on behalf of the 12 members of the U.S. team and captain Ben Crenshaw.

Each player and Crenshaw awarded $100,000 to his favorite charity and another $100,000 to the university of his choice.

The most interesting charity receiving a $100,000 contribution was the First Coast Soccer Assn. in Jacksonville, Fla. The donation was made by Duval.

The reluctant point man in last year’s controversy, Duval wasn’t really a soccer player as a youngster, but said there is a need for places for youngsters to play.

And there was another reason Duval thought about soccer.

“The buzz that was surrounding the Women’s World Cup this past year and seeing what they were doing, I mean it was a neat, neat deal,” Duval said.

Duval said he believes the $200,000 total the PGA of America designated for each player to give to charity is a fair number.

“I don’t believe we as players are entitled to $500,000 or a million dollars or whatever, half of the net profits or any of that,” he said. “I think it’s a good way to make the players feel good about the fact that they are giving up playing that week.

“I mean, there was so much speculation [that the PGA of America] was making $60 million or $100 million. . . . You don’t know, I don’t know and I don’t have a right to know. That’s not my business.”

THE STARTING LINE

Lanny Wadkins makes his Senior PGA Tour debut today in the first round of the Ace Group Classic in Naples, Fla. Tom Kite beat Wadkins to the punch last week when he made his first senior start at the Royal Caribbean Classic. He tied for ninth.

IT’S NICK.PRICE

The dot-com note of the week involves Nick Price, who has an endorsement deal to play the Tour Series clubs of e-commerce golf retailer Chipshot.com. For the consumer, the clubs will be available only through Chipshot.com, of course.