Only a few months ago, Tiger Woods’ former IMG agent, Hughes Norton, joined the Golfer’s Journal Podcast to shed light on how he got fired. The veteran business expert had been hired by Earl Woods as soon as his son turned pro in 1996. Within the first couple of years, Hughes had orchestrated some excellent deals for the 82-time PGA Tour champion. He convinced brands like Nike, Titleist, Amex, and Wheaties to financially secure his future. Yet, Norton was let go by Woods in 1998 as the latter was changing things around him to be the best version of himself.
In a recent interview with GOLF’s Subpar, Drew Stoltz asked the former IMG agent how his relationship with Earl Woods was different from that with Tiger Woods. He elaborated on how, after cultivating what would have been the deal of the century for any athlete in the world, Nike was trying to cut out the middleman and get Tiger Woods directly hired. Mr. T was too young back then to make the decision on his own, so Earl decided to do the honorable thing and decline Nike’s offer. Speaking about Nike’s strategy, Norton said, “It was the cheap shot of all cheap shots. I’ve never been in a situation like that.”
Nike’s shocking move took Hughes by surprise as well. But he had leverage with the Woods, considering his long relationship with them. He added, “I’d been with the family for 10 years. It was clear to Nike that their trust was in me and vice versa. And there was going to be a relationship there once he turned pro. All the trips to Nike, I went there four or five times, just doing my homework. Getting to know the landscape of the company, what I thought was possible.”
It’s evident that Norton worked hard to get the big cat the big deal. So Nike’s change in tune really caught him by surprise. “I get this call from Earl, he says, ‘Hughes, you’d never believe who came to see me today.’ I said, ‘Really? Who?’ He said, ‘This really nice, well-dressed African-American executive from Nike.’ I didn’t think anything of it. I said, ‘Really? What did he have to say?’” Up until that point, Norton also confessed that he didn’t know where this conversation was going. He was simply intrigued to learn that Nike officials had paid a visit to the Woods household.
That’s when Earl went on the explain, “He said that there was no reason for us to deal with you (Hughes). And this message that he brought, he said, was directly coming from Phil Knight. Just do the deal with us and save the 20%.” Hughes admitted that Earl’s revelation shook him, and he got nervous. The former agent hesitantly asked, “So what did you tell him, Earl?”
That’s when Norton was moved when he heard Tiger Woods’s father say, “I told him, no! Go back and tell Phil Knight that you have to trust somebody in this world, and Hughes is the guy we trust.” Hughes confirmed that he was exhilarated when he heard that. After committing so many years of work with Woods, waiting for him to turn pro, he was happy to get recognized by Earl for his efforts.
This shows how much faith Earl Woods had in Hughes Norton to direct his son’s future exceptionally. The Nike deal happened after all, and the shoe brand was aligned with Tiger Woods up until late 2023. The $500 million Woods and Nike contract ended after 27 years as the former launched his apparel brand, Sun Day Red. But that’s not where Norton’s discussion on the topic ended. He further elaborated on his relationship with Earl Woods and how he admired him. Let’s see what more he had to say.
Earl Woods trusted Hughes Norton with Tiger Woods’s future
“Hughes is the guy we trust.” For a father of a future superstar to make this statement about Hughes Norton just shows how much he believed in the IMG agent to do what’s right for Tiger Woods. As the former IMG employee added, “Earl was always more on my side, even at the end, I think, than Tiger. I know for a fact that Earl tried to talk Tiger out of the decision to fire me and said stuff to him like, ‘Look, the relationship’s been so long and Hughes has done so much for us. You can’t do that.’”
As per Norton, Tiger Woods’s father tried to convince him against firing the agent. Hughes had worked for the Woods family since the 15-time major winner was only 12 years old. For 9 years, the now retired agent had built Woods’s profile for brands and businesses and had gotten him some of the biggest sponsorship deals. However, by 1998, Tiger was 23 years old, and he moved away from his home in California to Florida.
“This was a decision… I don’t know, but my guess is Earl and Tida said to themselves, ‘Even if it is the wrong thing for Tiger to do, we’ve got to let him. He’s a grown man now, he’s out of our sphere of influence, he’s on his own. We got to support him, no matter how wrong we think this decision is.” The way Norton has framed it, it seems that Earl and Kultida’s hands were tied as their son was living nearly 3,000 miles away from them on the East Coast. While Tiger Woods did enjoy a lot of great sponsorship deals over the years, who knows how his profile would have looked if he still had Hughes Norton by his side? Especially considering that the latter had watched him grow up from a boy into one of the most successful golfers in history.
