"Woods' lackluster play creating challenges for golf retailers"
/Darren Rovell looks at Tiger's missed cut tendencies and where that leaves retailers stocking Nike gear centered around majors. Most interesting is how retailers were left out in the cold by Tiger sticking with his nurse shoes, just how much gear people buy based on seeing it worn at a major, and how well Under Armour is doing with Jordan Spieth.
Rovell writes:
Nike doesn't yet have a line for Rory McIlroy, but most expect that will be the case. In the meantime, Under Armour -- which sponsors Masters winner Justin Spieth from head to toe -- is making up huge ground.
"We can't keep his stuff in stock," Baker said. "Under Armour did decent before Spieth, but once he won the Masters, it was lock-the-doors good."
Under Armour officials won't give out specific numbers, but a spokesperson did tell ESPN.com that golf sales on the company's website have increased more than 100 percent since the Masters.
Here at Chambers Bay, ESPN.com offers stats on what is his worst performance in a major. Which, as Bob Harig notes, was just his fifth missed cut in a major.
As for Tiger's 80-76 performance, Rex Hoggard writes:
Regardless of what you may think of Como and his philosophies, with opinions ranging from confusion to outright contempt, the tandem are now just a half dozen PGA Tour starts into the experiment and it’s a tad early in the process to start cleaning house.
But what is just as clear is there is no sign Woods has bottomed out, which many believed was the case when he went around Muirfield Village earlier this month in 85 strokes.