his celebrity status resulted from the unprecedented
endorsement contracts he signed with Nike Golf
and Titleist before he had won his first professional
tournament. This was not viewed favorably by many
of his fellow PGA Tour pros. Golf is a game where
players usually spend years honing their skills before
their victories result in lucrative endorsements. In
addition, golf is viewed by many as a genteel game.
By contrast, Woods was very animated and vocal on
the course, behavior that seemed to challenge many
unwritten traditions.
When Woods won the Masters Tournament in
1997, the scrutiny of his actions intensified. Nike cre-
ated an advertising campaign that took on squarely
the issue of Woods’s ethnicity and had him state that
there were still golf courses in America that he was
not allowed to play. Critics pointed out that the
USGA had stepped up to that issue in 1990 and that
it was hypocritical for Woods to take an endorsement
from a company that profited from sweatshop condi-
tions maintained in its Asian factories. Woods was
also criticized for refusing to attend a ceremony
commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the inte-
gration of baseball by Jackie Robinson, declining to
provide an autographed ball for a charity auction or-
ganized by his friend and tour pro Billy Andrade,
and for telling gay-bashing jokes in a March, 1997,
interview inGQmagazine.
As the controversies continued, Woods used his
prodigious powers of concentration and intense
work ethic to achieve victories and top-ten finishes
on the tour at an outstanding pace. He was the top
money winner on the tour in 1997 and more than
doubled his winnings in 1998. He won eight tourna-
ments in 1999 and took home over $6 million in
prize money. Tournament organizers became anx-
ious, since having Woods in the field assured a sold-
out tournament, while tournaments that he skipped
saw attendance lag. The overall impact on the tour
was impressive, as larger purses meant that a single
top-ten finish would allow a golfer to cover all his ex-
penses for a season. By the age of twenty-four, Woods
had won the U.S. Open, Masters, PGA, and British
Open, a feat that put him in the company of an elite
group of golfers composed of only Gene Sarazen,
Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack
Nicklaus. Awards poured in from golf organizations
and media outlets like ESPN andSports Illustrated.
Woods had transcended the place occupied by top
golfers and successful athletes and acquired the sta-
tus of a cultural icon.
Impact Tiger Woods achieved success at a very
young age and did so while paying tribute to the
great African American golfers who proceeded him.
His impact on golf and on sports marketing has been
immense.
Further Reading
Callahan, Tom.In Search of Tiger Woods. New York:
Crown, 2003.
Londino, Lawrence.Tiger Woods. Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 2006.
Michael PolleySee also African Americans; Sports.932 Woods, Tiger The Nineties in America
Tiger Woods in 1995.(AP/Wide World Photos)