HSBC golf chief slams Woods’ no-show

SHANGHAI — World No 1 Tiger Woods received a stern rebuke from HSBC’s most senior golf executive on Wednesday night for his decision to snub this week’s World Golf Championship (WGC)-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, while accepting a £1.25 million (S$2.5 million) appearance fee to play an exhibition match against Rory McIlroy earlier in the same week.

“For a meaningless game in China to take place only a few days before is disappointing,” said Giles Morgan, the bank’s global head of sponsorship, in The Daily Telegraph. “This tournament has to be bigger than the individual.”

The suggestion from Morgan was that Woods displayed a lack of respect towards one of the game’s leading sponsors by skipping the event — where McIlroy shot a 7-under 65 opening round yesterday to lead at the Sheshan Golf Club — while performing a series of commercial junkets in Macau.

It is the second successive year that Woods has bypassed the season’s fourth and final WGC — the only one he has never won — on a dubious pretext, after citing “corporate stuff” in Singapore for skipping last year’s edition.

“Ultimately he is a freelance agent, so it is his decision to do as he likes,” said Morgan. “I just feel this tournament 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. Sponsors of our size deserve a modicum of respect for their investment.”

HSBC’s frustration with the lucrative exhibition contests springing up on the autumn swing of the golf circuit is evident, with Woods choosing to miss the US$8.5 million (S$10.5 million) WGC-HSBC Champions in favour of collecting a combined £2.5  million in fees just for turning up at the shoot-out with McIlroy on Hainan Island, and at the Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya next week.

“There could be some tightening of the rules to make it a bit more palatable,” Morgan said. “Where we have the disappointment is that with Tiger, we have created something that everybody is quite proud about. Golf is now showcasing itself on the other side of the world, away from the traditional heartlands. I feel that Tiger is missing out.”

Meanwhle, McIlroy has defended Woods following comments earlier this month by Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee that the 14-time Major winner had cheated.

Woods has been involved in a few rules controversies this season, most notably at the US Masters where he dropped his ball in an incorrect spot after taking a penalty from a hazard at the 15th hole.

“He was out of line and something should be done about it (by) the Golf Channel, that’s who Brandel is employed by and they are the ones that can deal with it,” McIlroy said.

“I’ll let the Golf Channel executives think what the right way is,” added McIlroy, referring to Chamblee’s full-time employer although the comments were made on golf.com which is not affiliated to the TV network. AGENCIES