Tiger Woods remains a toxic title sponsor thanks to bad play and lingering punch lines from a scandal-plagued winter, but he's still got a game coming out next week. How to market it? I got it, bring in Mike Ditka!
This year's version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will feature a Ryder Cup tournament mode, hence the wacky take on team-play golf. (The Europeans, however, might sniff that this looks rather like how the 1999 Ryder Cup went down.) Still, it's clear why Tiger's sharing the spotlight in this ad, the same way he's sharing the cover of his game. Such things would have been unimaginable a year ago.
On the other hand, this pinch-hit performance by the former Chicago Bears tight end and coach just added another bullet point to Ditka's do-anything resume. Alright, Mini-Ditka versus Tiger, at Pebble Beach, in a modified Stableford scoring system ....? Mini-Ditka? Mini Ditka ...
Update: Here's two more videos on the same subject: First, golf meets the It sport of last winter, curling:
And next, a behind-the-scenes that shows a bunch of other idea EA Sports had (has?) for the "team golf" concept. The hockey goalie making kicksaves is a beauty.