“Hello world.”
It was an orchestrated line, part of a Nike campaign designed to coincide with the professional debut of 20-year-old Tiger Woods.
In fact, it was actually “I guess, hello world, huh?” when Woods opened his press conference one day before the start of the Greater Milwaukee Open on Aug. 28, 1996.
Within two days, Nike’s “Hello world” ad campaign included a three-page spread in the Wall Street Journal and a number of televised advertisements. In fact, Nike shelved all of its previous national television ads and aired its Woods spot 28 times during first-round coverage of the GMO on ESPN.
History doesn’t remember it as forced or contrived, the way “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach” awkwardly landed from the lips of LeBron James nearly 14 years later. In the category of watershed press conferences delivered by the half-century’s transcendent athletes, Woods outshined LeBron with the right dash of earnestness and charm.
He delivered those words at Brown Deer Park Golf Course in northern Milwaukee County. Woods was about to embark on a legendary career unlike anything the golf world had seen before, and he was getting started on Aug. 28, 1996, at the Greater Milwaukee Open. The turnout was estimated at 150,000 spectators, easily the most in event history, when Milwaukee became the surprise setting for the dawn of a new era.
He took 60th place, but that was beside the point
Woods finished a mere 60th place in the event, but he nonetheless left winner Loren Roberts as an afterthought, even after Roberts defeated Madison native Jerry Kelly in a playoff for the title while Edgerton’s Steve Stricker hovered just one stroke back of the leaders.
It wasn’t until the week of the event that word came Woods was seriously considering turning pro in advance of the tournament, though even then, it wasn’t a sure thing. To that point, the prevailing sentiment was that Woods, who committed in April to play the GMO with a sponsor’s exemption, could potentially turn pro if he won the event or the Quad City Classic two weeks later.
Tiger Woods plays a shot on the fairway during his pro debut at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open at the Brown Deer Golf Course in Wisconsin. (Photo: J.D. Cuban/Allsport)
But then, he won his third straight U.S. Amateur Title in Oregon the week before the GMO, roaring back from down five holes to turn the feat, and the possibility grew stronger that he’d make it official in Milwaukee. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times both reported it was happening. The pro-am at Brown Deer Park Golf Course on Wednesday was Woods’ final round as an amateur, and he held an afternoon news conference thereafter.
The GMO was suddenly bracing for a media onslaught it hadn’t seen in its 29 years. ESPN made the quick decision to air the first two rounds. Credentials were suddenly needed for Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest, People, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, NBC Nightly News, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee… you get the idea.
The overnight millionaire
Woods finished at 7-under 277. He won $2,544. His first sponsorship check was probably somewhat … more.
The revelation of Tiger Woods had been anticipated by the golf world for years. Jack Nicklaus himself had called Woods a can’t-miss superstar, and there was little doubt he would become a transcendent presence in the game.
The child prodigy became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion at age 15, won the next two for good measure, became the youngest U.S. Amateur champion at age 18, competed in the 1995 Masters at age 19 and became the first golfer to win three straight U.S. Amateur title at age 20. He won the NCAA individual golf championship at Stanford and turned pro after two years, although his father, Earl Woods, had expressed a desire to see Tiger return to Stanford for the final two years.
But Nike and Titleist lined up sponsorship deals before he took a professional swing, the most lucrative endorsement contracts golf had seen (reported at close to $40 million but later revealed to be closer to $60 million). He was on his way to earning Sports Illustrated‘s Sportsman of the Year in 1996 and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, not to mention the 82 PGA Tour wins that followed (tied for most all time) and the 15 major victories that rank second to only Jack Nicklaus. He’s also an 11-time PGA Tour Player of the Year.
With Woods not due back at Stanford until Sept. 28, GMO executive director Tom Strong made the smart play to offer an exemption. In fact, Strong said he tried to get Woods on a sponsor exemption in 1995, recognizing that he’d be a significant draw for an event that wasn’t one of the Tour’s marquee events, but a phone call to Stanford’s coach was never returned.
“He’s not one of those shot-in-the-dark guys,” Strong said. “He is going to be on the Tour someday, and he’ll do well. He’s not a fluke, that’s for sure.”
Woods insisted he hadn’t made up his mind until close to the announcement. He said he paid for a dinner early in the week with a gift certificate and needed his coach to float the $100 entrance fee. But when he swapped his clubs from a Ping bag to a Titleist bag late Wednesday, he was officially a pitchman.
“It wasn’t about money,” Woods said. “It was about happiness. The time was right. I knew my golf game was good enough. It boiled down to, how happy am I? And I’m happy.”
Though Woods didn’t finish near the front, he did deliver a hole-in-one on the 14th hole during the final round of play.
“I tried to punch a 6-iron under the wind but it went higher than I wanted,” Woods said. “The ball hit on the green and kicked left and I said, `That should be close.’ All of a sudden, people started jumping up and down.”
Hello world, indeed.
This story originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, part of the USA Today Network, on April 6, 2020, as part of a look at the top 50 sports moments in Wisconsin.