Golf

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Accenture drops Tiger like an 8-inch putt

By: On 2

14/12/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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(CP)

NAPLES, Fla. -- Say Tiger Woods' name around his PGA Tour colleagues, and the reactions are swift and varied.

From Mark Calcavecchia, there was disappointment. Chris DiMarco, concern. Boo Weekley, silence.

And from others, when pondering the worst-case scenario -- Woods never playing golf again -- there is fear.

"Golf needs Tiger Woods," Brad Faxon said. "We wish them well and the best. I don't know what the best thing to do is. Nobody does. But I know him on the golf course is good for everybody."

On Sunday, global consulting firm Accenture Ltd. became Woods's first major sponsor to end its ties with the golfer.

In its first statement since the Woods' scandal erupted, Accenture said Sunday the golfer is "no longer the right representative" after the "circumstances of the last two weeks." The move ends a six-year relationship during which the firm credited its "Go on, be a Tiger" campaign with boosting its image significantly. Accenture has used Woods to personify its claimed attributes of integrity and high performance.

Woods' future is uncertain, his family forever affected by the infidelity he acknowledged Friday on his website when announcing his "indefinite" leave from the game. With that, a long shadow of doubt has been cast over golf, which has seen a financial boon since Woods stormed onto the scene and now can only wait and wonder what'll happen with the world's No. 1 player and the game's biggest draw sidelined.

Will he come back?

"The tour has got to be worried, because what's the definition of indefinite?" asked Greg Norman, the former world No. 1 and tournament host of the Shark Shootout this weekend. "Indefinite meaning, OK, it might be a year because a lot of issues have got to be resolved? That's the word you've kind of got to drill in on."

When Woods was sidelined for eight months after his stirring win at the 2008 U.S. Open, television ratings were cut in half. Attendance is much higher when he is in a field, and even in a recession, it's surely easier to sell sponsors on the merits of spending dollars to back an event that features Woods than not.

There's some serious worry about the long-term effects for the tour.

"I don't think it's going to help anything, that's for sure," Nick Price said. "Especially in a recession like we're in now."

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 14, 2009 C2

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