The best golfer on the planet has been a worth-every-million spokesperson for Buick since 1999, and at the recent U.S. Open, the word 'Enclave' was written in large letters on Woods' golf bag. A first-year marketing student could tell you the 'eyeball value' of that inside-the-ropes product placement, and with Woods in the final pairing on Sunday and in the hunt right up to the 72nd hole, that value was enormous for the new model. And so would it have been at this weekend's Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where two-time winner Woods is defending champ. But along came Sam Alexis Woods, and the first-time dad did the expected and withdrew from the tournament.
That move might well qualify Woods for father-of-the-year honours, but it was a tough pill to swallow at GM Headquarters in Detroit, just 75 kilometres northwest of Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, the site of the Buick Open.
And there's no guarantee the Buick Enclave will appear on Woods' bag when he returns to the PGA tour, as GM announced, just days after the birth, that Woods' primary spokesperson role for the automaker will now be on the OnStar marketing campaign and no longer with Buick. "We want the message on Buick to be about Buick," said a GM senior marketing exec in a press release. (Note to first-year marketing students: there will be an opening for a senior marketing exec at GM within six months).
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