Nike and Tiger's Controversial Commercial

St. Marys, Ontario - "I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to know what your feelings are, and did you learn anything?" Those are the words of Tiger Wood's deceased father, Earl Woods, from an interview he did before he passed away, more than four years ago. Now, those are the words that make the background of Nike's most recent, Tiger Wood's golf commercial. Tiger is back, and Nike is making his presence felt. I imagine many of you have seen the commercial on YouTube or have heard the voiceover on the radio by now. If you haven't, I suggest that before you read on, you watch the commercial to get a sense of what so many people, and not just in the world of golf, are talking about.

Now let's go back four years, Tiger Woods was on top of his game, a "phenom" of the game of golf and the PGA Tour's major star. He was taking the world by storm; big endorsement contracts (of note: a 5-year, $100 million contract with Nike golf), a boat load of wins on Tour, a beautiful Swedish girlfriend, and a father-son relationship that on the surface, many sons, and more often, their fathers, only dream of. Now fast forward to April 8th, 2010 and the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. Tiger is coming off more than a reported 20 extra-marital affairs and as recently as yesterday, a draw-dropping Nike commercial that has many people questioning Tiger's true intentions of his return and the remorse that he truly feels.

There is no doubt that Tiger is the best golfer in the world, and arguably, the best ever. But has he, and Nike, gone too far? What I find most astonishing about the Tiger commercial is that his father reportedly engaged in extra-marital affairs while married to Tiger's mother, which Tiger, did not admire of his father, Earl. It makes us huge Tiger fans question if Nike and Tiger really did go too far this time. Whatever comes out of this situation, you can't aruge that Tiger Woods is back and he seems to have not lost a step. A -4 (68) in the first round at the Masters may slow down the critics...at least until round two.

How do you feel about Tiger's Nike commercial? Feel free to post your thoughts below.

Thanks,

The St. Marys Golf Team