‘Called Them Boudoir Slippers’: Tiger Woods’s $40 Million Nike Dream Was Crushed by Greg Norman as Nasty Remarks Resurface

Tiger Woods and Nike’s partnership has been as long as Woods’s career. The 27-year-old deal between the two has lasted through the various ups and downs of Woods’s career, and even then, it did not end. However, when they started the collaboration, at first there were many criticisms from the golf community.

The players and fans alike threw various comments on Woods’s latest shoes with Nike in 1998, and one such critic was Greg Norman. It seems that Norman’s and Woods’s saga of differing preferences is also as long as the golfer’s deal with Swoosh.

Greg Norman found Nike-Woods shoes simple

In 1996, Tiger Woods signed a 5-year deal with Nike for a reported $40 million. That deal was offered to Woods when he was not as popular and had not been crowned one of the greatest of all time yet. However, Nike saw the potential in him and made their first product with then-20-year-old Woods.

After two years, Nike took another long shot with Woods. After his 1997 Masters win, all eyes were on Woods, and Nike released their first product, a personalized line for him. The 1998 Nike Air Zoom TW was advertised and launched as a “new category of sport for golf.“

The host recounted that the shoes were the joke of the town; Golf.com said they were the “most uncomfortable shoes” ever, and some players even joked about them. One such player was Greg Norman. The former Nike Director, Rod Tallman, commented on the history of shoes at the All-American Tiger podcast and shared the blunt comment of Norman, saying, “We ran into Greg Norman at Sawgrass once, and he called them boudoir slippers.”

Tallman accepted the past mistakes and said, “That didn’t turn out to be the best thing ever. So we made some mistakes.” He said, “The footwear we developed for Tiger was out there a bit because we were trying to really create a whole new category of sport for golf.”

Moreover, he described the “Yin and Yang logo” as being made to honor Woods’s Asian side. After the severe ridicule, the 1998 Nike Air Zoom TW was discontinued in 2000. Since then, there have been more than 10 different designs with the Nike-Woods collaboration.

Tiger Woods and Nike’s shoes throughout the years

After the 1998 Nike Air, Nike released the Nike Air Comfort TW Gore-Tex in 2001. The black shoes got a revamp in 2002, when they were released with a ‘Split Toe” and called the Nike Air Comfort TW Last Gore-Tex “Split Toe”. In 2004–05, Nike showcased the Nike SP-7 TW Tour and 7.5 in 2006–07.

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Furthermore, the SP-8 was released in 2007–08 and was the first to resemble the latest Nike designs. In 2008, Nike introduced the Nike Air Tour TW 8.5, and the next year, Woods’s trademark shoes, the Air Zoom, were made available. From 2009 to 2021, there have been many versions of TW Air Zoom. The latest one was in 2021–22 when the Nike Air Zoom TW20 was released, and it remains the lone pair of shoes on TW Nike available on the website.

In total, there were more than 15 shoe collaborations between Woods and Nike. After 27 years of successful deals, the Nike-Woods partnership is rumored to end. Will the rumors come true, or will the deal be extended? Only time will tell.

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