Tiger Week - The Presser and Other Tales

If it's Tuesday (well, it WAS Tuesday) it's press availability day, and that means Tiger has to spend some quality time with my fellow ink-stained wretches.  

Shack plays Aggregator-in-Chief, allowing your humble correspondent to focus on brand extensions for his world renown snark.  Shall we dive in?

Dave Shedloski sat in and tells us that Tiger looks...well, I'll let him tell it:

"It is new, but it's old . . . because I haven't done it in a very long time," Woods said of

the swing he is building -- or rebuilding -- with the help of Texas-based swing instructor Chris Como. "We looked at a lot of video from when I was in junior and amateur golf. And it was quite interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame. How did I do that? That's kind of what we are getting back to."

Looking 10-15 pounds lighter but still just as muscular in the arms and shoulders, Woods said he had no interest in reprising the golf game from his youth until he suffered a lower back injury earlier this year that scuttled most of his 2014 season. Woods made just seven starts that included two missed cuts and two withdrawals. He failed to post a top-10 finish for the first time in his career.

Fire up the flux capacitor Marty, we're going Back to the Future.  And speaking of BTTF, thye're playing a one-off at Isleworth, where we are reminded Tiger has history of all kinds:

Woods couldn't say whether he was "game ready," but at least the venue is familiar; Isleworth was his home course until he moved to Jupiter, Fla., two years ago, and he holds the course record, 59, which he shot the week prior to winning the 1997 Masters. 

Of course, not far from the club is the site where a little more than five years ago Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree in the early morning hours after Thanksgiving, an event that led to damaging revelations about his personal life.

Not to mention the nine-iron into which he also crashed....

Bob Harig had this on his work with new swing coach consultant Chris Como:

Saying it is "new, but it's old,'' Woods said he reviewed video going back to his junior golf days that preceded a 79-victory career on the PGA Tour that includes 14 major championships. 

"It was quite interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame,'' Woods said Tuesday during a pre-tournament news conference. "How did I do that? How do I generate that much power? That's kind of what we are getting back into.''

Michael Collins, also at ESPN, exhibits the soft bigotry of low expectations:

"I don't know."

Tiger Woods was at his most honest and vulnerable as I have ever seen him saying those three words Tuesday prior to the Hero World Challenge he is hosting this week.

That's a phrase athletes, especially ones who are considered by some to be greatest of all time in their sport, rarely use when talking about themselves and their game. 

Tiger said "I don't know" more than I've ever heard him utter it in his career. When asked about any swing changes due to adding Chris Como as his swing consultant and how long it would take to implement, Woods said, "I don't know."

I don't know how I feel about that.... Seriously, there ain't a whole lot more in his piece than that... But Collins is a former tour looper, who worked for Kevin Streelman and Chris Couch, amonst others.  And how can you not like a guy who's bio starts "Michael Collins has been writing for ESPN.com since yesterday"?

Jason Sobel says the golf world is returning to normal:

Rebranded with its fifth title sponsor since the turn of the century – not including the

year it went without one – Tiger Woods’ own late-season money-grab event might as well be called the Irony Invitational these days. That’s because, in truth, it’s now the Hero World Challenge, a nod to new Woods endorser Hero MotoCorp, but even the most cynical among us can spot the unintentional double-entendre in its name.

One, the game at its most elite level isn't spiraling down the rabbit hole of insignificance without him; and two, it’s a whole lot more interesting with him.

It is for sure more interesting with him in the mix.  Matthew Rudy caught up with the Hankster, who had this to say:

"It's going to be an interesting week to watch," says Haney, who had his own public debut as Woods' coach at Bay Hill in March 2004. "His body looks different, and he says he's able to practice his normal amount now.

That means at least his short game should be different. Does he try to shape shots? Will he play some draws? We could see a lot of different things, and there will probably be more to come."

The short game was the puzzle last year, as his chipping and pitching were truly horrendous.  But I do think we need to remember that he was hurting pretty badly all last year, and is only that one year removed from a five-win season.

Michael Buteau has an interesting piece on the endorsement deal with Hero group, including the seemingly unreported aspect that it's also a personal endorsement contract:

As Tiger Woods mounted a red motorcycle for a photo shoot with his newest corporate

partner, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL), the golfer’s agent cautioned him about getting too comfortable. 

“Don’t get any ideas, Woods,” said Mark Steinberg, arms folded across his chest.  Woods, who said he has never ridden a motorcycle, is shifting to selling Indian-made motorcycles from Buicks with a four-year endorsement contract with Hero, India’s largest motorcycle maker. The company plans to enter the European market in 2015 and the U.S. by the following year, Chief Executive Officer Pawan Munjal said. 

The addition of Woods as the New Delhi-based company’s first global corporate endorser follows Hero’s agreement to sponsor this week’s World Challenge tournament at Orlando, Florida’s Isleworth Golf & Country Club. The event has an 18-player field and benefits Woods’s charitable foundation.

That's why Steiny gets the big bucks.   So who is our new Hero?  Turns out that they're the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, though the reason that comes as a surprise is that 98% of its revenues are generated in India.  Per this Forbes piece, the logic of the deal is to use Tiger as their spokesman, notwithstanding that telling little bit above in which Daddy wouldn't let Tiger play on the bike.

The foundation for the partnership between Woods and Hero was laid in February when Woods played an exhibition in India hosted by Munjal and also featured Hero-sponsored golfer Shiv Kapur, who is one of India’s most high-profile golfers. Munjal says he was considering a handful of celebrities to help with the global expansion of Hero, but quickly settled on Woods. “I thought he was the best fit for our company. He is one of the biggest global celebrities and cuts across all segments,” said Munjal by phone. “We need to very quickly make the brand recognizable and popular globally. I am very confident that with Tiger, we will be able to do that.”

Fair enough.  And I won't tell anyone that he's never been on a motorcycle, though of course he just told everyone.  But more importantly, isn't Shiv Kapur just a boss name?  And I'm guessing that with a name like Shiv, he's not afraid of the sponsor's products.  For those keeping score at home, reports in India value the deal at $8 million large, though it's unclear if that covers both aspects of the arrangement.

Of perhaps greatest amusement value was the scene captured on the Isleworth range by the Golf Channel cameras, in which Sean Foley touches Chris Como's face as if to anoint his successor:

Shack compares that to this famous scene from Godfather II, though having never seen that film I'll not offer a comment:

And lastly, Dave Shedloski seems to have taken the bait with this item about Tiger's participation in the Ryder Cup Task Force:

Tiger Woods is taking his role on the recently formed U.S. Ryder Cup task force

seriously. He just doesn't want to make it a lifetime appointment. He would judge such a development a failure.

"We can only do this once," Woods said Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth Golf & Country Club, where he is set to play competitively for the first time since August. "If we do our job correctly, we're only going to have this once."

I tell ya, this blogging is like shooting fish in a barrel, though I do salute his choice of accompanying photo.  I'm willing to consider the fact that Tiger is treating this seriously, though I'd be far more receptive if the Task Force had, say, actually met.  

But talk about burying the lede, this was deep in the piece:

His record in the Ryder Cup is 13-17-3 in seven appearances.

May I propose that for the first agenda item?