Tiger has Shanghai ambitions

TIGER WOODS isn’t one of those American golfers content to sit at home from one end of the year to the other and flood his already overflowing bank account with still more dollars.

True, his sorties overseas – in his own luxurious private ‘plane – are sweetened by appearance money fees nowadays amounting to $2.5million (€1.7m) but he makes the effort and above all, gives full value by trying to the last putt whether he is winning the event, in contention or out of the running altogether.

That’s why sponsors, even in these straitened times, are prepared to dig deep into their pockets to have Woods in their tournament. And so it is this week when the HSBC Champions holds centre stage at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, having attained massive status by its inclusion in the series of World Golf Championships for the first time.