Kelly Tilghman - Shill?
I watched a lot of golf this weekend, due to a) liking to watch golf and b) being mostly immobilized by illness. This led to my tuning in for coverage on the Golf Channel, which is something I rarely get a chance to do. It took about two holes of the Match Play final yesterday (outlined below by our own Tiger) for Kelly Tilghman to mention that it was an All-Nike final, plus that K.J. Choi and Justin Leonard had also made long runs as Nike endorsers.
Then she mentioned it again. And again. And again, even mentioning Tiger's endorsement for the Sumo Squared driver for the amateur, though he himself had not made the switch yet. Then it came up again.
I'm sure Nike was loving it, much more than if their exposure had been limited to the shirts, hats, and balls of the finalists. Here's the thing: I don't think it gets mentioned at all if it had been an All-Callaway final or an all-Taylor Made final. It seemed calculated on Tilghman's part to KEEP bringing it up. Mention it once, fine. Twice, eh. Three times, it's become a pattern and seems to smack of an agenda.
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that she had some ulterior motive. I only wish that Nick Faldo had never recanted his statements that Taylor Made had performed better in tests than Nike. Although I understand that he probably had to, because he is a Taylor Made player and there was a definite conflict of interest there, not an implied one. However, if Tilghman was going to keep bringing up Nike, I think Faldo should have been able to separate himself on the golf course form the announcer and say whatever came to mind, especially when it was backed up by published research (although, depending on the test, different companies come out looking better or worse).
I hope I'm wrong. I can't verify anything with regards to Tilghman, but her constant mentions of Nike left a bad taste in my mouth.