BIDDING WAR BREWING OVER TIGER WOODSEXCLUSIVE
By Brendan James
Golf Australia Editor
Live @ The Australian Masters
As the second round of the 2009 Australian Masters gets underway, speculation is growing that the Victorian and NSW Governments may be drawn into a bidding war to get Tiger Woods back to Australia in 2010.
The overwhelming success of Woods appearance at Kingston Heath has ignited interest in getting the World No.1 to play here again next summer. Of course, he is due to lead the Americans in the Presidents Cup in 2011 at Royal Melbourne.
The highly publicised US$3 million appearance fee paid by the Victorian Government has been covered by record gate takings, increased sponsorship and lucrative TV deals. Victorian Premier John Brumby noted earlier this week that 35 percent of visitors to the Masters were from interstate and overseas and represented a cash injection of at least $35 million into the Victorian economy - marking a substantial return on their investment.
Figures like that have not gone unnoticed north of the border in NSW. NSW Special Events made the first move in trying to secure Woods for this year's Australian Open and, through its chief John O'Neill, flagged the possibility of Tiger playing in Sydney. It is understood the NSW government then baulked at the multi-million dollar appearance fee and dropped out of negotiations. Victoria's major events people stepped in and got Woods to sign on the dotted line.
When asked yesterday whether NSW had dropped the ball and should feel embarrassed by its blunder in not signing Woods, Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said: "I think Sydney made a mistake."
"I will say one thing, Sydney made the mistake of declaring the events they would secure in advance," Holding said. "Melbourne is not in the business of showing our hand. We prefer to work quietly, professionally behind the scenes, and then when we secure an event we shout it from the rooftops."
Holding said Sydney is not in the same league as Melbourne when it comes to bidding for major events.
"Frankly our competition is not cities like Sydney anymore," he said. "Our competition is great international cities that are also in the marketplace to compete for those events."
When asked by
Golf Australia whether the Victorian Government would be bidding for Tiger to return to Melbourne next year, Holding was coy in his reply.
"Obviously we're very cautious about saying what else we might be bidding for," Holding said. "We saw Sydney made a concerted effort to get Tiger to participate in the Australian Open there but we're not in the business of bidding up the price of these sorts of things by declaring our hand in advance.
"But it's as plain as the nose on your face how successful this event is for Melbourne.
"It has been successful through a lot of different factors, but the key element of its has been the participation of Tiger Woods ... he is always welcome to come and play in Melbourne."
While Victoria would certainly be the front runner of any negotiation with Woods' management, the International Management Group (which owns the Australian Masters), it is believed that a significant offer is brewing from NSW to lure Woods to Sydney for next year's Australian Open to be played at The Lakes.
The Open already has a commitment from Greg Norman that he will play (if he's fit) but Woods has proven this week that he is the only player in the game that can guarantee a sell out and deliver a handsome profit for organisers.
It might be a hard sell given that Woods has said he's not here for the money but was attracted by the prospect of playing in the Melbourne sand-belt.
The question now remains: If Tiger wins the Gold Jacket on Sunday, will he defend his title? Melburnians have every right to be quietly confident.
Post a Comment