There have been whispers for weeks, maybe months, that the end was near. That there would be no renewal of their collaboration. So when news finally broke on Monday that Tiger Woods and Nike, after a fruitful and seemingly loving 27-year partnership, would be parting ways, our feeling at 2Gringo's overwhelming feeling was one of... sadness.
It might sound ridiculous to feel that way about a marketing division, and maybe it is. But, oh, they were so good together. The world's best golfer and the biggest sports marketing machine. Just a couple of GOATs who created and innovated, pushing each other to new heights. Lennon and McCartney, Stockton and Malone, Tiger and the swoosh.
One might have expected such a glamorous association to begin in earnest in a place like LA, New York or Monte Carlo. But it didn't. It started in Wisconsin, at the Greater Milwaukee Open, when a young Woods, on August 28, 1996, sat at a podium at Brown Deer Park Golf Course, flashed a toothy smile and uttered five words and a grunt that would go down in marketing history: " Well, I guess, hello world, huh?"
It was that line (staged, we'd soon learn) that got all the attention, but what came immediately after was more revealing: two nervous laughs that suggested the 20-year-old college kid had no idea what was coming next. How could he? After three straight US Junior Amateur victories followed by three straight US Amateur triumphs — which still rank high among his most notable feats — a certain degree of greatness from Woods seemed destined. But how much, it was still a mystery. As well as the strain that Wood's incredible fame would eventually bring. The scandal, the heartache and shame, the police reports. To the winner comes the spoils — in this case, hundreds of millions in sponsorship dollars from a Beaverton, Ore., shoe and apparel company. — but it's rare that these changes don't also come with a price of their own. But what a journey it was, both for Woods and Nike. Phil Knight sensed what was going on. One need look no further than Knight's words in the press release announcing the initial five-year deal: "Tiger Woods will have a huge impact on the sports world and will change the way people look at golf. He is one of the few special athletes who transcends their sports, at the same way Jordan has done in basketball and McEnroe did in tennis." Later that year, Wood's initials appeared on two Nike releases, the Air Zoom TW and the Air Zoom Sport TW.
No pressure, kid, right?
If Woods knew the importance of expectations, he had a strange way of showing it. Just 226 days after that press release was issued, Woods cruised around Augusta National and won the Masters with four field goals. A transcendent achievement? Check. Fourteen more majors were to come. Eighty-two PGA Tour titles. The Swoosh was there for almost all of Tiger's biggest hits. Perhaps the most unforgettable of these: the miraculous chip-in on the 16th hole at the 2005 Masters. In a moment Knight himself couldn't have scripted better, Woods' Nike One TW ball seemed to cling to the edge of the cup for an eternity — swoosh side out — before finally falling, both into the hole and golf fans' collective memory bank. In good times and bad, in sickness and in health? For Woods and Nike, that proved to be true. When many of Wood's other sponsors — Gatorade, AT&T, Accenture, Gillette — dumped the golfer amid his 2009-10 sex scandal, Nike stood by Wood's side, though they didn't let him go completely unpunished. When Woods made his much-anticipated return to competition at the 2010 Masters, Nike introduced an ad that week showing black-and-white footage of Woods staring into the camera: swoosh on his cap, swoosh on his vest. Accompanying the footage was a voiceover from Tiger's father and mentor, Earl, who had died four years earlier: "Tiger, I'm more inclined to be inquisitive, to foster discussion," the recording of Earl began. "I want to know what you were thinking. I want to know what your feelings are. And did you learn anything?" The underlying message from Nike: You screwed up, Tiger, but we got you.
There would be other low water marks for Woods but also more high peaks. How much did Nike invest in him? It's hard to say for sure, but the number is comfortably in the billions. And Wood's value to Nike? It's even harder to quantify, but ask yourself this: What's the first brand that comes to mind when you think of the greatest golfer of the past 30 years?
And now, after nearly three decades of just doing it together, Woods and Nike have called it quits. FootJoys was our first clue. When Woods showed up at the 2022 Masters in clunky FJ Packards. "I needed something different, something that would allow me to be more stable," Woods said of his new fling. Endorser and endorsee both insisted this was a one-off, but a separate Nike statement that week wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of its commitment to Woods. It read, in part, "As he continues his comeback, we will work with him to meet his new needs."
A Tiger-ready golf shoe never came from Nike. Woods continued to wear FJs after returning from ankle surgery and rehab in 2023. Playing two events in December in swooshless shoes, Woods was surely already aware that no amount of counseling (or negotiation) could keep him and his longtime stablemate together. Then came Monday's news from Woods, posted to his social media channels where he referenced the "amazing moments and memories" he's produced with the iconic logo on his person.
"People have asked if there will be a new chapter," Woods wrote. "Yes, it will definitely be a new chapter."
Maybe, but you know what they say about sequels.