The news that Tiger Woods has signed a prestigious new multi-year deal with Swiss watch manufacturer Rolex will certainly be welcome news for Woods’ bank manager. Ever since his girlfriend decided to swing his nine-iron after revelations of his antics on tour, long-time sponsors of the former world number one abandoned ship one after the other.
Lucrative deals with AT&T, Tag Heuer, Accenture, Gatorade and Gillette were all wiped from Woods balance sheet in the wake of his lurid revelations. Indeed, the only sponsorship Woods had managed to garner prior to these defections was with Kowa Company Ltd in Japan endorsing a heat rub product for the Japanese market.

So why Rolex has chosen to team up with Woods now? Woods stock has plummeted as far as his ranking; the former world number one is now ranked outside the top 50. He has not won a tournament in almost two years. His reputation, tarnished by x-rated details of his antics on tour will never be the same.
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