GOLF
Tiger Woods and Nike end sponsorship deal – 27 years and $500m later
The 15-times major winner announces split amid rumours that Nike is to quit golf altogether because of a sales slump and the need to cut costs
Woods has traditionally worn his iconic red shirt on a Sunday as his mother described it as his “power colour”
DAVID J PHILLIP/AP
Tiger Woods has announced that he is splitting from Nike after 27 years and about $500 million (£392 million) in sponsorship deals.
The 15-times major winner has been synonymous with the brand since turning professional in 1996. It has been a mutually beneficial partnership, with Nike’s stock value increasing by almost 5 per cent the week after Woods won his most recent major at the Masters in 2019. That was believed to have boosted the Nike founder Phil Knight’s personal fortune by more than $250 million.
The company stuck with Woods despite a series of off-course incidents including the infidelity scandal of 2009 and his reckless driving conviction of 2017, when he was found in a parked car with drugs in his system.
Woods, 48,
