Global Golf Post - February 8, 2010

Let the games begin. Early last week, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin named Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman, Davis Love III and Paul Goydos as his four vice-captains for the matches, set for Oct. 1-3 at Celtic Manor in Wales. Two days later, his Euro counterpart, Colin Montgomerie, said he wouldn’t name his vice-captain until after the Open Championship, which ends July 18.

The three-year alliance between the Australasian and Nationwide tours to co-sanction last week’s Moonah Classic and the previous week’s New Zealand Open has ended and likely won’t be renewed for financial reasons. Of the two, the New Zealand Open may help the OneAsia Tour, which already has the national opens of China, Korea, Thailand and Australia on its schedule.

Tiger Woods has spiked a once-dormant cottage industry. According to the New York Times, insurers are being inundated with inquiries from corporations seeking to protect their investments, brands and sales when their celebrity endorsers suffer public embarrassment. For good reason — the stock prices of the seven publicly held companies with deals with Woods lost $12 billion in market value in the month after Woods went on hiatus.

The Champions Tour’s Cap Cana Classic,
March 26-28 in the Dominican Republic, is
reaching out to help the earthquake relief efforts
in neighboring Haiti by auctioning a package that
includes pro-am spots and first-class airfare
for four on eBay beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 and
concluding at 7 p.m. Feb. 21. The package also
includes lodging, invitations to pro-am parties,
transportation and VIP hospitality tickets and is
valued at more than $50,000. All proceeds will
be donated to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
( www.clintonbushhaitifund.org).

Despite losing big-dollar sponsors such as Accenture and AT&T, Forbes magazine lists Woods as the top sports brand by an athlete, with an estimated value of $82 million. His total earnings were larger than that of the next five athletes combined — soccer star David Beckham ($20 million), tennis star Roger Federer ($16 million), driver Dale Earn-hardt Jr. ($14 million) and LeBron James and Kobe Bryant ($13 million and $12 million, respectively).

James B. Hyler Jr., of Raleigh, N.C., has been elected to serve a one-year term as president of the United States Golf Association. As president, Hyler will lead the USGA's professional staff and nearly 1,400 volunteers.

One of Australia’s most famous golf establishments, the Tap Inn hotel in Adelaide, is for sale. The Tap Inn boasts historic photographs, memorabilia, persimmon wood heads for beer taps and life-size statues of many of the game’s greats.

Sportsbusinessjournal.com reported the PGA Tour spent $420,000 to lobby Congress in 2009 to combat the backlash against sports-related spending by companies receiving federal bailouts, maintain nonprofit tax exemptions and increase government funding of its First Tee program. The PGA Tour’s spending through the first three quarters of 2009 was eclipsed only by the NFL ($990,000) and MLB’s office of the commissioner ($370,000).