The Tiger Woods-Nike split has been doing its rounds on social media. The 48-year-old golfer had spent the longest time wearing and playing with Nike on the greens. It was Nike who stood by his side as he dominated at the beginning of this millennium, dominating championships in the early 2000s and 2010s. This all began to change as Nike got out of the golf equipment game in 2016, focusing only on apparel.
The news of their split officially broke on the morning of January 8, 2024. This came as a shock to many fans, some of whom had seen Nike stand by the golfer during his infamous cheating scandal of 2009 when most of his other partner brands like Gatorade and Gillette slashed their deals with him. It’s hard to grasp that the partnership that once won so many titles, including the legendary 4-peat at the Bay Hill Invitational, will no longer be seen together. Nowadays, the pro can be seen around wearing Sun Day Red on his sleeve and carrying equipment by Taylor Made.
Although the news broke a while ago, there seems to be little known about the actual compromise in effect. The news had been relatively hush-hush until now, but some facts about the Tiger Woods and Nike split are slowly trickling in. In a recent post on X by Dan Rapaport on X, we see that Nike has removed the TW logo from the back stripe of their iconic Tiger ‘13s.
Tommy Fleetwood’s been wearing the Tiger ‘13s since last year. Nike has since taken the TW logo off.
It’s not hard to see that the fans were not pleased. One fan seems to think that Nike will be fine, and it’s Tiger Woods who would actually lose out on a great partner, one that got him to success.
” Nike was fine before Tiger. They will be fine without Tiger.
Hard to imagine peak Tiger being as cool if he was wearing Taylor Made brand clothing. ”
There were few who reminisced about the old days, thinking about the time when their collaboration produced some of the greatest athletic products in the world. One fan thinks that these very shoes were some of the best ever made for golfing.
” This is absolutely the best golf shoe ever made..”
There are some who do not agree with this opinion and dislike some products made under this collaboration. One fan thinks of the shoes as some of the worst ever made.
” Those are the most garbage golf shoes you can wear. Time to grow up, Tommy.”
Some are of the opinion that this is the most pragmatic decision for both parties. Tiger Woods and Nike are no longer working together, and so should not represent each other, thinks one fan.
” Breaking news: Tiger leaves Nike so Nike stops promoting Tiger. More at 11 “
The fans do not miss a chance to take out their disappointment out on social media. Some fans, like this one, are not pleased with how the shoe now looks, without its iconic logo.
While others, like this one, think that the shoe now looks better!
Finally, one fan just thinks that Nike is just being petty.
It is honestly an end of an era. The fans may be disappointed right now, but there is a lot in store for the future. Nike still has endorsements with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, and now that Anthony Kim is back, he might be an option too. Woods too, has a lot more left in the store. We can only wait and see where the story develops further.
