If Tiger Woods never returns to the golf course as a competitor -- an increasingly conceivable option after he withdrew from last week’s Safeway Open three days after committing to start his first PGA Tour event in 14 months -- he surely won’t be loafing on the sofa in his dad jeans.
Tiger Woods launches post-golf career with new company, TGR
Woods kicks off the next phase of his career by consolidating his non-playing ventures into one company.
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Woods, whose game and/or bad back he deemed not ready for prime time in deciding to drop out of the tour’s 2016-2017 season opener, officially launched his post-playing career on Monday with the unveiling of his “next chapter” — TGR.
The new firm, started at the same time he changed his Twitter avatar from his formerly signature red and black with his “TW” logo to three tiger-stripe-like, W-shaped triangles, consolidates all of Woods’ businesses. It is a way for the former world No. 1 to preserve and extend the brand he has built since his historic “Hello, world” moment 20 years ago.
“As I enter this next chapter with TGR,” Woods said on his website, “I’m committed to building a legacy that goes beyond just me.”
The company includes TGR Live, the new name of the arm of his corporation that organizes tour events; TGR Design, his golf course design company; his charity, the Tiger Woods Foundation; The Woods restaurant; and future businesses. As chair of the enterprise, Woods will oversee operations on a daily basis, according to Fast Company.
“I’m excited to explore the possibilities in design, product development, hospitality, and possibly entertainment,” Tiger told the publication.
With Woods’ longtime golf gear supplier, Nike, quitting the equipment business, one of Tiger’s potential new undertakings could involve manufacturing the tools of his trade.
“The Nike change opened a previously unplanned-for opportunity,” Jeff Kempler, chief operating officer of Sub Rosa, a consulting firm Woods hired to help expand his new brand, told Fast Company.
With Kempler noting that TGR may start selling clubs and balls in the future, rumors that Woods is part of a group of investors considering buying TaylorMade Golf from Adidas AG lends credence to the possibility of a new line of business for TGR.
Sitting down? Sources telling me @TigerWoods in serious negotiation to purchase @TaylorMadeGolf from @adidas AG .
— Rick Young (@RickSCOREGolf) September 15, 2016
Woods compared his new duties as a captain of industry with those he has honed inside the ropes.
“As I work toward returning to the sport I love,” he said, “I’m also taking the next step in what I like to call Chapter 2: my evolution as a competitor off the course.”
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