Tiger Woods and Nike had a partnership for 27 years

Tiger Woods Ends a Nike Athlet “You Can’t Play Golf, But You Can Play It”, Mark Steinberg Revisited

Tiger Woods is no longer a Nike athlete after 27 years, ending a partnership between the swoosh and golf’s biggest star and raising questions about the future of both in the sport.

“Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world,” Woods said in a statement. The days since have been filled with amazing moments and memories.

Over 27 years ago I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most recognizable brands in the world. “I could go on forever since the days since have been filled with amazing memories and moments.”

Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports, confirmed the end of the deal that began in 1996 when Woods turned pro and within eight month had already won four times and shattered records in a watershed Masters victory.

“Tiger, you challenged your competition, stereotypes, conventions, the old school way of thinking,” the Nike post was captioned. You challenged the whole concept of golf. You were the only one who challenged us. Most of all, you. We’re grateful for that challenge.

“Chump change,” the late Earl Woods once said, and he was proven correct. The contract is believed to have been worth over $100 million in 2000. As recognizable as any athlete in the world, Woods became the face of Nike Golf and had his own “TW” brand.

At the age of 24, Woods became the youngest player to win the Grand Slam by capturing his fourth major title at the U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods, FootJoy, and Day: The Most Famous Brand Relations of All Time (And What Happened to Woods?)

There were signs of a break down in the relationship. Woods said it was a better feeling when he wore FootJoy shoes since he broke bones in his leg in a car crash.

Tiger is juggling a golf ball with his club and then hitting it into the distance in this thirty second spot. It wasn’t the commercial the marketing team had planned that day, and they stumbled on it by accident as Woods was playing around during lunch break — just another day of being Tiger Woods.

The company still has a stable of golfers wearing its apparel — including Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player who wears a “TW” brand shoe — although former No. 1 Jason Day did not renew his deal this year and switched to a different apparel company.

Eric Smallwood is the president of Apex Marketing Group, a firm specializing in sports and entertainment. “They decided to make their golfers exclusive sponsors on their apparel.”

We look back at some of the best ads to commemorate the 15-time major championship-winner’s mark on sports history, and one of the most famous brand relationships of all time.

What would Woods do when he was a 3-year-old and before he had a big dream? A video of Woods playing golf with Nike

“You don’t really instill anything into a child. You encourage the development of it,” he said. “But I would do all kinds of things to mess him up.” He talks about the special tactics he’d use to challenge his son’s mental toughness on the playing field, such as dropping a bag of clubs right as Tiger is about to swing.

“It’s crazy to think a 43-year-old who has experienced very high and every low, and has just won his 15th major, is chasing the same dream as a 3-year-old,” the ad states. It ends on a video of Woods as a prodigious kid talking about wanting to beat pro golfer Jack Nicklaus when he grows older — which he famously did when he surpassed him in PGA Tour wins, years later.

In one of the more dramatic advertisements from his partnership with Nike, Woods — wearing all black — swings his club in slow motion, ambient music building as he shows off his range of motion. Golf is an imitation of art.