Tiger Woods and his December golf tournament have a new sponsor. India-based Hero Motors, maker of two-wheeled motorvehicles, has signed on to back Woods and the Hero World Challenge in a four-year deal announced Tuesday.
Reports from India peg the deal at $ 8 million per year, for both Woods personally and this event, which primarily benefits his foundation. Woods says he’s never been in the saddle of a motorbike, and won’t start now, but Hero CEO Pawan Munjal believes Woods is the perfect face to represent the company’s expansion into Europe in 2015 and the U.S. in 2016.
Woods and Munjal first met back in February, when Woods received a large appearance fee to participate in an exhibition in India. Munjal quickly settled on Woods as the name he was seeking for global expansion. However, this relationship doesn’t come with some expectation that Woods will return to India to play in its biggest event. Hero has put its money behind resurrecting the Indian Open, an event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours. Asked Tuesday if he’d be playing in the 2015 edition, Woods said he wasn’t aware of the dates, but would give strong consideration to playing there in ’16 and beyond.
Meanwhile, Woods’ event has found a new home for the next three years: Albany Country Club in the Bahamas, developed and owned by the Tavistock Group, which also runs this week’s host and Woods’ former home course, Isleworth Golf & Country Club.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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