Wednesday Morning Golf News

Did Harrington turn down $10 million a year? – If a golfer turns down $10 million a year, is that a sign that there’s so much money in the game that its no longer a motivator? Or is it cause for celebration that there is at least one pro for whom money isn’t everything? We could ask Padraig Harrington, but he’s not really talking about it. Last week the three-time major winner signed a new contract with Wilson Golf that is reportedly worth $10 million over three years. He has been with Wilson since 1998, and used the company’s gear to win three of the last six majors. But according to the Irish Independent newspaper, the Dubliner may have chosen loyalty over riches, turning down two offers worth substantially more.

Rumors circulating on the European Tour and reported in the Irish press suggest that Nike offered Harrington $10 million a year to don the swoosh, and that Callaway tabled an offer in the region of $8 million a year. [Golf]

Tiger Woods denies rift with Steve Williams – Tiger Woods has shot down rumours of a rift with his caddie Steve Williams.

The world’s top golfer’s post US Open comments were interpreted as critical of the long-serving bagman’s performance, but he’s cleared the air at a news event ahead of the weekend’s PGA Tour event in Pennsylvania.

Tiger claims he and Williams both made some mistakes at Pebble Beach, but he feels like his impressive third round charge into contention was a sign of things to come. [3news]

Tiger Woods still world’s highest-paid athlete – It’s going to take more than a few sex scandals to knock Tiger Woods from his perch as the world’s highest-paid athlete, according to Forbes.

Woods ranks fifth in the magazine’s Celebrity 100, a list of the world’s most powerful entertainers and athletes. Oprah Winfrey holds the top spot on the list. After Woods, the highest-ranking athlete is Kobe Bryant, at No. 14. Forbes estimates Woods’ take-home pay at $105 million.

Tiger Woods’ fall from global sports icon to tabloid fodder was stunning. He saw Accenture, AT&T and Pepsi drop him as a pitchman, but he remains the highest-paid athlete in the world thanks to huge deals with Nike, Electronic Arts and Upper Deck.

Phil Mickelson, the world’s No. 2 golfer, is ranked 45th, with his take-home pay estimated at $46 million. [Golf]

Westwood to skip Scotland – Lee Westwood makes his final appearance before the Open Championship in France this week when he tops the bill in Paris.

The world number three has chosen not to play at Loch Lomond next week after failing to perform well there for almost a decade, instead opting to travel to Ireland for the JP McManus Pro-am.

Tiger Woods will also warm up for St Andrews at the Adare Manor course but Westwood will grab the limelight at this week’s French Open with US Open champion Graeme McDowell taking further time off to allow his first major triumph sink in. [Skysports]

Rose Withdraws From Open Qualifying – Justin Rose withdrew from Tuesday’s Open Championship final qualifying competition, but he is not yet certain of a place at St Andrews.

Rose, whose Memorial tournament win earlier this month came too late to get him into the US Open, is odds-on to take one of two spots on offer from a US Tour current form money list ending this weekend.

The 30-year-old is playing at the AT&T National, but so are Rickie Fowler, Ricky Barnes and Davis Love, all of whom could go past him with a top-two finish.

Sunday’s winner Bubba Watson is actually closest to Rose on the list, but he is having the week off to celebrate his victory with his father, who is suffering from lung cancer, and his wife, who discovered last month that the brain tumour diagnosed at the end of last year was, in fact, only an enlarged pituitary gland. [Sportinglife]

Tiger’s design business is struggling – Tiger Woods’ golf course design business is on the rocks, highly respected Forbes.com reported at the week’s end.

But, says the financially astute website, it has nothing to do with the scandal that has surfaced around his previously secret extra-marital activities.

Three years ago Woods announced plans to design his first US golf course on a plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Asheville in North Carolina. Cliffs Communities, the developers, planned to build a 7,300-yard course, along with a wellness center, a spa and 1,200 homes spread out over a 3,200-acre estate.

The carrot to sell all of those homes where sites would cost as much as $3 million apiece was the chance to be a part of the community surrounding the first Woods-sanctioned course on US soil.

The real estate meltdown, an oversaturated golf course market and bankers grown fearful and stingy have combined to stall and cripple his ambitions of building a thriving golf course construction business as other famous golfers like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have done. If it had boomed, it could have turned into one of his biggest revenue sources, but at this stage it had still to get off the ground. Otherwise Tiger business remains solid. Forbes say he ranks near the top in brand power and earnings on their annual Celebrity 100 list, which has just been rolled out on Forbes.com.

Over the past 12 months he’s taken in $105 million. [Golf365]