Tiger Woods no longer necessary to draw fans, says sponsor rep

Giles Morgan is HSBC’s global head of sponsorship, with control over the global bank’s investments in a pair of big golf tournaments, including this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in China.

Like a prudent investment banker, Morgan has evaluated the return HSBC was getting on paying Tiger Woods big bucks for their January event in Abu Dhabi and decided it’s not worth the money. Morgan will no longer cut a $ 3 million check to Woods just for showing up, saying golf, particularly in China, has moved beyond needing the 14-time major winner or any single marquee player to make a tournament a success.

“Every top player in the world is welcome to play this event if they qualify and we would be delighted to have them here,” Morgan said to The Guardian newspaper. “But we have moved beyond the point where we just need ‘a player’ to turn up to boost PR, gratification and media coverage. We are not interested in that, we are interested in genuine growth of the sport and I think we are sitting on a fantastic new chapter.”

Morgan went on to say that having 40 of the world’s top 50 in the field was a victory in his mind, which it is.

This isn’t the first time Morgan has singled out Woods in public comments around this tournament. A year ago, Woods chose to take a large appearance fee to take on Rory McIlroy in an exhibition match in China just days before the WGC-HSBC Champions. Woods skipped Morgan’s tournament despite already being in the region. For the $ 8 million price tag on sponsoring this event, Morgan demanded Woods’ attention.

“I just feel that this tournament (WGC-HSBC Champions) has an important role to take golf into an entirely different part of the world. It builds off the Olympic story in China and all the top players in the world have a responsibility, to an extent, to support it,” Morgain said. “Sponsors of our size deserve a modicum of respect for their investment.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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