Golf Digest just saved $1 million per year. “Playing editor” Tiger Woods will no longer pen a monthly column nor appear in the exclusive photos that ran alongside the spread.
“Golf Digest and Tiger Woods have mutually agreed to stop his monthly bylined articles,” Jerry Tarde, chairman and editor-in-chief of Golf Digest, told the New York Post. “His last regular column will appear in the February 2011 issue of Golf Digest, at which time he will also leave the masthead. We appreciate the insights Tiger has provided to our readers.”
According to Keith Kelly, the golfer doesn’t want any distractions while he works full-time to retool his swing. If we were Golf Digest, we would be po’ed by his decision for a number of reasons.First, it’s ridiculous to think Tiger spends more than about 15 seconds a month “writing” the column. The notion that he can’t work on his swing and churn outhave one of his minions churn out a story is absurd.
But there’s more than that. While other sponsors were running for the hills in light of Tiger’s marital transgression, the magazine stood by the golfer. They suspended his column, but kept him on the masthead.
Woods abandoning them now is classless. He might no longer be the world’s best golfer, but he still sells magazines. Having his column attracts readers, plain and simple. Tiger is basically saying, “Thanks for staying around in my time of need, but I’ve got better things to do now.” Ouch.