Farewell and take it easy, Tiger

A partnership that tee'd off 27 years ago.
An alliance of giants made the cash flow.
A Tiger that purred, big, brave and bold.
A beautiful bit of business that turned the greens gold.

At 20 years old he was a gamble to be fair.
But one that paid off, big tick (or swoosh) there.
Sporting a red polo shirt, a bit like ya dad.
But much cooler than plus fours and traditional plaid.

Tiger, the icon, roared on to the greens.
Followed by 27 years of "in the hole" global screams.
The Nike and Woods magic, aligned like ducks
Both making fortunes. Woods, 660 million bucks.

A serial winner was revealed as a cheat.
Finding himself in the cabbage with the world at his feet.
But Nike stuck in where others dropped the ball.
Loyalty for golf royalty, keeping their cool.

Nike doubled down, showing ironclad support.
A rarity with sponsors where reputations are bought.
Golfers, they loved it, and kept buying his stuff.
Nike's hole in one from deep in the rough.

But now is the right time for them to part ways.
It's been a lesson in golf and how brand bravery pays.
It's true that balls fly when you're having fun.
But this conscious uncoupling has had its best run.

Nike had stopped selling balls, bags and clubs.
Focusing their swoosh on a younger generation of cubs.
In 27 years, sponsors have come a fair way.
More influencers than legends, but there's always MJ.

The memories are endless and helped golf grow.
Tiger Woods. The only ONE to win all four majors in a row.
One last thought on this historic, happy, sad split

Tiger is not the GOAT, he is GOLF
and he just did it.

Seb Hill is creative director at BBD Perfect Storm

(This article first appeared on CampaignLive.com)