Tiger Woods and Nike have ended one of the most important commercial partnerships in sport after 27 years. The deal was reportedly worth $500 (€455m) million over his lifetime and put Nike golf on the map in the late 1990s.
Aside from Michael Jordan, Woods has arguably been Nike’s most notable sportsperson and as a result he has been involved in his fair share of memorable advertisements for the company. Here are some of the best.
Hello World, 1996
Turning professional after one of the greatest amateur careers in history, hype was high for Tiger Woods. Nike were ready to fan the flames, with Woods telling the world “Are you ready for me?”. Eight months later, he won the Masters by 12 shots and changed the face of golf forever.
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Golf’s Not Hard ads, 1997
Promoting Nike’s golf shoe, Tiger was on top form in these ads, the best of the lot coming in this video at 1.40 minutes, summing up the plight of overcomplication for the everyday golfer. It’s a simple game, until it’s not.
Never, 2000
At the peak of Woods’ powers in 2000, winning three Major championships, one of them by 15 shots, it did seem like he was indestructible. “You will never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life. And he hasn’t and he never will,” says his father Earl Woods after explaining the methods he used to raised his son on the course. The man who helped create the legend.
The chip-in at the Masters, 2005
Never has there been an easier ad for Nike to make. Woods holed one of the greatest chips in history at the 16th hole at Augusta in the 2005 Masters. The ball rolled down the slope seemingly in slow motion, then stopped on the lip of the hole as if choreographed to show the Nike symbol then fell into the hole to rapturous applause. Woods did the work, Nike just stuck on a “Just do it” for good measure.
The swing portrait, 2006
Golf has never been too hard for Tiger, nobody made the game look more effortless at full flow. Sometimes the simple works the best, it’s just a slow-motion swing in all his glory, a dark background, with some classical music. Timeless.
Tiger is back, 2009
After Woods missed the second half of the 2008 season through injury, Nike shows how it is the “Good Life” for PGA Tour golfers with Tiger not there to win every second week. To “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows”, it is very much the good life and features a blast from the past Anthony Kim. A funny ad, little did they know then that Woods would be away more often than he would be there for the next 15 years.
Post-scandal ad, 2010
One of the oddest ads ever created by Nike is surely this one after the sex scandal that derailed Woods’ marriage in 2009 and, briefly, his career. Woods dominated headlines for months and was forced to issue a grovelling Oprah-style apology for his actions before he returned to golf. This ad keeps with that theme and features a voiceover from his father Earl, bizarrely talking to Tiger from beyond the grave.
Ripple, featuring Rory McIlroy, 2015
A heartwarming ad that shows that effect Woods had on the world of golf, in this case with our own Rory McIlroy. Young Rory is seen watching Woods win the Masters with his father Gerry in Belfast and it inspiring him to practice all day and all night to be the best. The ad ends with the two competing together on the first tee. Wholesome.
Never stop chasing your dream, 2019
The ad that captures the injury lows that Woods suffered where it looked like he might never play golf again, leading to the remarkable 15th Major victory at the 2019 Masters. Baby Tiger says in the ad “I’m going to beat Jack Nicklaus”. It is unlikely he will beat his Major record now, but he gave it some try.
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