By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
Thursday, September 14

I'm not a businessman, but the figures being thrown about between Nike and Tiger Woods are beyond absurd.

True, Woods is the greatest player in all of sports -- not just golf. He has reached a plateau in popularity rarely seen among entertainers, of which athletes are a subset.

Earning his keep

When it comes to actual earnings on the golf course, at least Tiger Woods is performing. His $8.2 million in earnings come from winning nine tournaments this season, the most by any player in 50 years. But Woods is hardly the lone millionaire. The PGA Tour is giving away bundles of money more often than Regis Philbin. With two months to go in the 2000 season, 33 players already have cracked the $1 million mark this season. And among that group, 14 of them have not won a golf tournament this year. Leading the way is Davis Love III, who stands sixth on the money list with more than $2 million in earnings. His last victory came 30 months ago. And the millionaires aren't limited to the PGA Tour. Ten players on the Senior Tour and three on the LPGA have cracked seven figures this year, and those are lesser tours with much lower prize money and low fan interest.

True, he is the youngest player to complete a Grand Slam and won three of four majors this year, setting scoring records along the way.

But is anybody worth $100 million as a spokesperson for a company? Absolutely not.

Nike is reportedly set to sign Woods to a new, five-year deal that will be the richest in the history of sports contracts. And if anybody deserves to be paid, it's Woods. But $100 million?

Do people honestly believe they will play better golf if they use the same product as Woods? Obviously, he has had an impact by switching from Titleist to Nike's Tour Accuracy ball earlier this year. Nike says its market share in the ball market has gone from 1 percent to 4 percent since the switch.

When Woods signed on with Nike four years ago, it added a Woods shoe line which was a bust. Which leaves one to the conclusion that fans don't want to dress like Woods, but they do want to play like him.

That's not going to happen. Even with a Nike ball or the potential of Nike clubs somewhere down the line, that won't give anybody special talents on the course.

Welcome to Pennsylvania
Waynesborough Country Club looks like a terrific golf course, and the Pennsylvania Classic is drawing some good crowds for the first PGA Tour event in the state in 20 years.

But was it necessary?

The PGA Tour is already littered with too many events, yet here comes the first of two new ones on the 2000 schedule. The Tampa Bay Classic, set opposite the Presidents Cup next month, will also make its debut.

Again, the question is why.

The PGA Tour has 49 official events on its schedule this year, followed by a slew of Silly Season events which leave about four weeks between the end of the 2000 season and the start of the 2001 schedule.

And that is ridiculous. While it's great for the golf fans in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, these events didn't need to be added. In fact, it's about time the PGA Tour starts trimming instead. Get the season back to 35 events. Give fans a three-month break from golf.

Add on more than 40 Senior Tour events, the same number of LPGA tournaments and 30 Buy.com starts, and there is simply too much golf being played.

The tour must recognize quality over quantity. When the stars are playing about 20 events each year, that's about 60 percent of the tournaments being skipped.

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