Magazine Says Woods’ Deals to Be Worth $54 Million a Year

The total purse on the PGA Tour the year Tiger Woods turned pro was $69.1 million. It might not be too long before he makes that much in a year, on and off the golf course.

Once his new five-year contract with Nike Inc. takes effect next August, Woods will bring in about $54 million each year from endorsement deals he has with 11 companies, according to this week’s issue of Golf World.

The magazine cited a variety of sources familiar with the contracts, which range from the $100-million deal Woods signed Friday with Nike to a five-year, $10-million deal with the company that performed laser eye surgery on Woods a year ago.

On the course, Woods already has earned close to $8.3 million this year with three tournaments still to play. He receives a reported $1 million appearance fee when he plays overseas, such as the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, and he also plays the unofficial Grand Slam of Golf and his own Williams World Challenge.

When Woods turned pro in 1996, he signed a five-year, $40-million deal with Nike. Since then, he has won 24 times on the PGA Tour, including a career Grand Slam.

“Money has never been important to Tiger,” his father, Earl Woods, told the Associated Press. “If it was, Tiger would have about five times, or maybe seven times, as many endorsement dollars as he does have.”

According to Golf World, Woods’ biggest deals besides the one with Nike are with Buick, EA Sports and Asahi Beverages, each worth about $30 million over five years. He also has a five-year deal with American Express that the magazine said was worth $26 million.

Meanwhile, Woods has selected David Duval as his partner for the World Cup Dec. 7-10 at Buenos Aires. Duval is ranked No. 3 in the world.

Pro Basketball

The Chicago Bulls waived veteran guard Hersey Hawkins, three months after drafting guards A.J. Guyton and Khalid El-Amin. Hawkins, 33, averaged 7.9 points and shot a team-best 39% from three-point range in 61 games with the Bulls last season. Chicago signed Hawkins as a free agent in August 1999. . . . The Cleveland Cavaliers waived veteran guard Gary Grant, less than three weeks after obtaining him from the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-way trade also involving the Miami Heat. Grant, 35, has played in 548 NBA games and started 231 games for the Clippers.

Prep Sports

The City Section Rules Committee imposed two-game suspensions on football coaches at Taft, Monroe and Venice high schools for violating district rules.

Coach Troy Starr of Taft was suspended for holding an illegal practice on Labor Day. Coach Chris Richards of Monroe was suspended for allowing a student to practice when he was still enrolled at another school. Coach Angelo Gasca of Venice was suspended for undue influence and illegal contact with two players not enrolled at Venice.

All three coaches can appeal their suspensions to a three-member appeal panel.

The punishment for Starr and Richards was more severe than for a first-time offense because both schools’ football programs were already on probation.

Another coach, defensive coordinator Juan Hernandez of Roosevelt, is facing disciplinary action for allegedly throwing a paper object at a Carson player during a game on Sept. 8.

Soccer

The U.S. Soccer Federation effectively created a monopoly when it designated Major League Soccer as the country’s sole Division I league, attorneys for players told a federal jury in Boston. The decision making MLS the only Division I league violated U.S. antitrust laws, the players claimed in opening statements of a federal trial resulting for an antitrust lawsuit filed in 1997.

Names in the News

Marat Safin, the new U.S. Open tennis champion, replaced Pete Sampras atop the ATP rankings. The 20-year-old Russian, who followed his victory over Sampras in the U.S. Open finals with a victory in the President’s Cup, is ahead of Sampras by two points.

Dan Panaggio, a three-time coach of the year in the Continental Basketball Assn., and Julius Smith were hired as assistants by Mike Davis, Indiana’s new basketball coach. Smith was an assistant at Southeastern Louisiana.

New York Islander forward Oleg Kvasha was suspended for three exhibition games and fined $1,000 by the NHL for an elbowing incident Sept. 15 in an exhibition game against Philadelphia.

The Vancouver Canucks re-signed restricted free-agent left wing Donald Brashear, who missed 20 games last season after former Boston defenseman Marty McSorley hit him in the head with his stick.

Iowa guard Kyle Galloway, who started 18 of 30 games last season, announced that he would give up basketball because of recurring back problems.