GM Runs Over Tiger

DETROIT – General Motors is bailing out on Tiger Woods.

Woods, a global icon in sports with his 14 major championships, has been carrying the Buick logo on
his golf bag for the last nine years and still had one year left on his contract.

But General Motors Corp. was looking to cut costs and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst
sales downturn in a quarter-century. And it said Monday the world’s No. 1 golfer wanted more time
for himself, especially with a second child on the way.

“Timing is everything,” said Larry Peck, golf marketing manager for Buick. “We’ve had such a great
partnership with Tiger. It’s hard for us to walk away from that. But this frees up time for him. And it
sure frees up a lot of money for us.”

The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to expire at the end of
2009.

Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and mainly has been seen in Buick commercials
as the company tried to give the nameplate a more youthful image. Peck said during the launch a few
years ago of the Enclave that its research showed 78 percent of consumers who bought the SUV
previously had not been Buick owners.

“We attribute awareness of our product to Tiger,” he said.

Buick’s U.S. sales have dropped 54 percent from 2000, the first full year Woods worked with GM, to
2007, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. The brand’s global sales, however, rose 17 percent during
The average age of the brand’s buyers also dropped. Around 2001, the average age was in the low
70s, but it has since fallen to 66 for Buick sedans and 53 for the Enclave.

GM has been making dramatic cuts in advertising as it tries to conserve cash. The nation’s largest
automaker spent nearly $7 billion more than it took in last quarter and has warned that without federal
help, it may reach the minimum amount of cash required to run the company by the end of the year.

Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president for North American marketing, said GM and Woods started
discussing an end to the deal earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with the Detroit Three
automakers’ quest for $25 billion in federal loans.

But GM’s statement said the decision was made as part of “the search for budget efficiencies during a
difficult economy for General Motors.”

Woods’ agent at IMG, Mark Steinberg, said the decision to end the relationship one year early was
“absolutely mutual.”

“It was a combination of things,” Steinberg said. “Tiger was looking to gain some more time, and
certainly it was an opportunity for GM to reduce its spending with everything going on.”

Buick said last week that it would be cutting back on its deal providing courtesy cars at PGA Tour
events.

GM is so concerned about costs that it cut advertising during the 2009 Super Bowl, although it still
plans to sponsor the NFL and likely air ads before and after the game. GM also has pulled out of the
Oscars and Emmy Awards in 2009— the first time in more than a decade it is not running ads right
before, during or after the two events.

U.S. automakers, the single largest category of advertisers, cut their ad spending 18 percent to $1.37
billion in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2007, according to TNS Media
Intelligence in New York.

Foreign automakers also are trimming their spending on advertising in U.S. markets, with a 5.4
percent cut in the second quarter, for an overall 11 percent drop in U.S. auto ad spending to $3.27
billion, the 12th quarterly dip in a row.

Woods has carried only two logos on his bag since he turned pro in August 1996. He was with Titleist
through 1999 until Buick won a bidding war for its brand on a bag that gets more television time at
tournaments than any other golfer.

Woods has not played since season-ending knee surgery after winning the U.S. Open, and he is not
expected to return until next year, most likely in early March, depending on his recovery.

Steinberg said he would “expect there to be some exposure on the bag” when Woods next plays.

“I’ve got a few ideas, and we’re in the process of working through that,” he said.

Buick remains the title sponsor of two PGA Tour events – the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines,
which Woods has won six times, and the Buick Open outside Detroit, which Woods has won twice.

Poults Driver Knicked

SINGAPORE -- British Open runner-up Ian Poulter pulled out of the Singapore Open after being unable to replace the driver that was stolen at the HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai, which ended on Monday.
"I am really gutted," he said Wednesday. "I have been thinking about it for four hours and I have decided to withdraw because my new driver will not arrive on time. "It is disappointing because I did not come all this way not to play. But with so many world ranking points at stake, if I played badly [by using a different driver], I may have lost ground."



The Cobra driver, which he had used in this year's Ryder Cup at Valhalla, was snatched from his bag Saturday at the Sheshan Golf Club. Poulter, ranked No. 25 in the world, offered a reward for the club's return, and signs were posted around the club. A building camera caught an image of the robber, but he was not able to be identified. "I'm absolutely distraught about it as I had spent months testing drivers till I found the right one," Poulter said. "Although I keep two spares, one in America and one in Europe, they just don't feel the same."

The Singapore Open starts on Thursday, but Poulter was told by the manufacturer that a replacement would not have been ready until Friday. India's Anirban Lahiri will take Poulter's place in the field for the $5 million event at Sentosa Golf Club, the richest national open on the Asian Tour. Information from Reuters was used in this report.

AK Joins Euro's

SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Anthony Kim has joined the European Tour, the latest of a half-dozen U.S. tour players who have decided to take up joint membership in Europe for the 2009 season.

Kim, a 23-year-old American whose two PGA Tour victories propelled him to No. 8 in the world ranking, paid the $3,280 membership fee that makes him eligible for the season-ending $10 million "Race to Dubai" for the top 60 players and the additional $10 million bonus pool.

He is scheduled to play the Nov. 6-9 HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Camilo Villegas of Colombia, who won the final two playoff events in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour, also paid his dues to become a European Tour member. Also expected to join is Phil Mickelson; former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy previously said he would join.



"Anytime you get players from the caliber of Camilo and Anthony into the tour, it's great. It's an asset, it's good for golf, it's good for the European Tour," Sergio Garcia said.

Garcia said he expects several other PGA Tour players to seize on the opportunities overseas. Appearance money is offered at some European Tour events, while the practice is banned on the PGA Tour.

"Some of the tournaments we play in the Middle East ... are bigger than the ones they play in the U.S. You get good players there, so world rankings points increase," Garcia said. "At the end of the day, that's what the big players do it for."
During the past six months, Kim has emerged as one of golf's brightest young prospects with victories in the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National at Congressional, along with a starring role in the American victory at the Ryder Cup.
Villegas, 26, is No. 7 after his victories in the BMW Championship in St. Louis and the Tour Championship.
"If you want the tour to grow and get to the level that it deserves, there's no doubt that you need those big players," Garcia said from the Volvo Masters.

If Mickelson decides to join, Europe can claim nine of the top 10 players in the world as members. The exception is Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in golf, who has said his schedule would not permit him to meet the minimum requirements.
European members must play 12 times, including six tournaments in America -- three majors and three World Golf Championships.

JD Sobers Up in Salem

Drunken Daly detained after Hooters incident - 10/29/2008

By Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Golfer John Daly was taken into custody Sunday morning by Winston-Salem police after he was found drunk outside an area Hooters restaurant.



Police said in a statement Wednesday that said officers went to the restaurant on a medical call.

When they arrived, Daly was being treated by emergency workers after losing consciousness.

While at the restaurant, police said Daly “appeared extremely intoxicated and uncooperative,” refused repeatedly to be taken to the hospital and was asked to leave the restaurant by several workers.

Daly was taken to the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center for a 24-hour stay, until he was sober.