How is Nike keeping Tiger happy?

[mikelz]

Then he would have done something that Hagen and Snead didn't try and at which Nicklaus and Palmer both failed.

The only clubs of value with a player's name on them is Hogan. If I'm wrong, I'm sure I'll hear about it. Maybe those old Northwestern Golf Tom Weiskopfs are worth a fortune now but I doubt it.

[BASHERBAKER69]

im talking about mostly the woods and irons. The equipment that TW uses is tailored specifically for him and i dont think the stuff that he uses can be bought by jo public.

The stuff is ok, but if i had £500 to spent i definitely would not buy nike. My condolences if you have Nike equipment.

[JaY_B]

im talking about mostly the woods and irons. The equipment that TW uses is tailored specifically for him and i dont think the stuff that he uses can be bought by jo public.

What irked me is that your claiming Nike to be inferior simply because you personally do not like their equipment, fair enough you do not like their equipment but it doesn't make it an inferior brand.

[BASHERBAKER69]

Then he would have done something that Hagen and Snead didn't try and at which Nicklaus and Palmer both failed.

I think that Nicklaus failed to properly establish a branded club because he had virtually retired from competitive golf by the time he launched the irons and woods etc. However, TW launched his own brand now and publicly endorsed the equipment im sure it would be very successful.

[Fredguay642]

He has a ping putter grip on a titleist putter.

[golf_junkie27]

IMO, I don't believe any professional golfer plays with equipment that you can just purchase off the shelf. There is so much that goes into a pro's equipement: prototype shafts, the type of steel that's used, the lofts and lie angles, soles are shaved, etc. I remember seeing Greg Norman going through the MacGregor warehouse and how much work was going into his clubs. I imagine this is the same for Tiger. Nike even tried to convince him to use a hybrid which he quickly rejected. He's even admitted to fighting with them about certain things. That conversation was probably like:

Tiger: I'm not using that driver.
Nike Rep: It's new and we want to release it. It will sell really well if you use it.
Tiger: I'm not using it. It won't work for me.
Nike Rep: Tiger, we pay you so much money, give it a try.
Tiger: One sec. (Dialing on cellphone speaking with agent) How fast can I get out of my Nike deal?
Nike Rep: Okay, Tiger, no problem.

[Shindig]

For all the talk about whether Tiger's clubs are available to the market, I'm surprised I didn't see a post mentioning that not even the other Nike staff pros can use his ball. It was an uproar, IIRC, when someone (Duval?) was photographed hitting it during the Ryder Cup ('99?).

Of course, maybe Nike's not releasing the ball out of consideration for amateur pace of play. Let a 25-handicapper with a 50 yard slice hit a ball that spins more and the dew-sweepers might not finish by sundown.

I suspect Nike's happy to have him in their stable. They do sell forged blades, and Tiger uses them (or an approximation thereof). So does Anthony Kim, IIRC. I forget exactly what the other Nike headliners (Cink, Leonard, Choi) use.

[SwinginCaveman]

For all the talk about whether Tiger's clubs are available to the market, I'm surprised I didn't see a post mentioning that not even the other Nike staff pros can use his ball. It was an uproar, IIRC, when someone (Duval?) was photographed hitting it during the Ryder Cup ('99?).

I know Cink and Trevor Immelman both use the forged CCi's, Choi uses the Sumo line, though I'm not sure about the rest of the Nike staff.

[rmccabe6]

I'm confused. I thought he still used that same titleist putter he's used for years? I owned a nike black oz once and didn't like it much. It was so huge and colorful it was kind of distracting.

[Shindig]

I'm confused. I thought he still used that same titleist putter he's used for years? I owned a nike black oz once and didn't like it much. It was so huge and colorful it was kind of distracting.

Well, it's a Scott Cameron, but whether it's one or one of many similar ones, I can't say.

I'd be very surprised if Tiger didn't have an opt-out clause for any given club if he doesn't like it.

[SwinginCaveman]

For anyone interested, there's a set of authentic Tiger Woods blades on ebayright now. Righty, though. Bidding's at $415, couple days left. Straight out of some guys collection

[Ed1]

I dont think it is ever possible to buy a club in exact specifications as Tiger's. Fisrt, the clubs pro's uses on tour are grinded, bended, ported, treated to thermo bonding etc... so for us mortals to get a hand on the equipments the pro's uses are slim to never. To get our clubs treated to the same exact service they get would cost arm and a leg. Tigers clubs are built exclusively for him. I heard about the same rumors that the clubs he uses regularly are miura forged but I have a very reliable source that told me that they are actually real nikes that are prototype meaning that those clubs are not for sale to the public. Reason why many mistaken it for muira forgeds is because it is designed to almost look like the muira's (Tiger's choice). Nike does everything Tiger ask them to do for him, may it be his equipments or any personal request. From what I was told Tiger treats nike as his own personal genie... only thing different with their relationship is that Tiger has more than 3 wishes on this genie. See, the genie owes Tiger its powers now, just like once before when the very same genie owes a certain basketball player that wears #23.

[iacas]

IMO, I don't believe any professional golfer plays with equipment that you can just purchase off the shelf.

They kind of do, though.

There is so much that goes into a pro's equipement: prototype shafts

Yes to that (sometimes).

the type of steel that's used

No.

the lofts and lie angles

You can adjust those yourself as well, yes.

soles are shaved, etc.

Eh, yeah, kind of.

Basically, as I've said before, pros play basically the same clubs that you can get on store shelves. The difference is that they get to play prototypes (shafts, clubheads, balls) prior to release and they have 50 drivers to choose from rather than the 3-4 or whatever you might find in your pro shop. A driver stamped 9.5° might actually be 9.3 or 9.8, so the pro will hit 20 and find the one they like the most. They have more "fitters," but at the same time, they can tell the difference between a driver with 9.3 and one with 9.5 degrees of loft.

[Garthmo]

Im sure that Nike werent too impressed when Tiger decided not to use the Nike Sumo2 driver. That has to be the first nail in his coffin.

sub standard golf gear? seriousy? Come on.........

[kehanra99]

There was a 1/2 hour special on the Golf Channel that focused almost soley on the relationship of Nike and Tiger Woods a few months back. He has a clause in his contract that says he can use any clubs he wants, that's why he's had the same non-Nike putter for 10 years.

From what he and Nike said (granted it was a bit of propoganda), he works very closely with them even in the design stage of the new equipment. He did come out and say that what Nike is developing is geared more toward every day golfers. It was interesting to watch, but I wonder how much of it was actually true...

[SwinginCaveman]

There was a 1/2 hour special on the Golf Channel that focused almost soley on the relationship of Nike and Tiger Woods a few months back. He has a clause in his contract that says he can use any clubs he wants, that's why he's had the same non-Nike putter for 10 years.

Yeah I saw that. Just Golf Channel's way of swinging from Tiger's and Nike's nads. It brought viewers, it talked about how great the products are, talked about how well Nike works with their tour staff, how hard they work on R&D;, blah blah blah...

[JaY_B]

Basically, as

I disagree with that, in terms of drivers this may be correct, but I am pretty sure none of the top 20 in the world are using 'brand name' irons, as far as I am aware clubs such as Miuras, Vegas etc etc are the irons being used, simply with the 'brand names' logo being stamped on too the head.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I heard about the same rumors that the clubs he uses regularly are miura forged but I have

This is awesome. People who go on the internet and swear they have "a very reliable source", but they don't actually say who the source is.