Tiger Woods skinned at Skins, touting for Chinese sponsors
He may still hope to quickly reassume his previous status as golf's dominant player, but in Thailand yesterday Tiger Woods looked every inch the journeyman.
Not that the grandly titled World Golf Salutes King Bhumibol Skins Tournament really counted for much, of course; but nonetheless, making a rare visit to the home country of his mother, Woods may have hoped to have delivered a rather better account of himself.
The four-man charity tournament was won by Columbia's Camillo Villegas, who took five skins for $109,800; Paul Casey was second, winning nine skins for $92,400, while local star Thongchai Jaidee picked up three skins for $90,000.
That left Woods on $6,600, having won a solitary skin. For those unfamiliar with the concept, in skins tournaments different holes have different monetary values, with the player who shoots the best score claiming the prize for that hole. If a hole is tied, the money for the tied hole is added to that on offer in the next hole.
Not that prize money was a significant motivating factor at Amata Springs yesterday, with the winnings donated to charity. As far as the cash goes, the world No. 2 has bigger fish to fry - Woods recently confirmed he was considering a selection of offers of sponsorship from Chinese brands, though he was less forthcoming on what those brands might be.
After the exposure of his tangled private life, Woods lost several big paying sponsors in the last 12 months, including communications company AT&T, management consulting specialist Accenture, and drinks brand Gatorade.
The 34-year-old is back in action this week. Earlier today he touched down in Australia, and he heads to Victoria golf club on Thursday to defend the JBWere Masters, Woods' most recent victory - and one scored before his life spun out of control at the tail-end of last year.
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