Confusion surrounds Tiger Woods' choice of golf shoes at Hero World Challenge
Tiger Woods has once again stumped fans around the world by turning up to the Hero World Challenge in a pair of mystery golf shoes.
When Tiger Woods first rocked up to The Masters in 2022 wearing a pair of FootJoy golf shoes, every golf gear writer around the world took a sharp intake of breath.
Woods has been Nike's leading man for the entirety of his career, and the absence of the iconic swoosh on his shoes immediately made headlines.
Having just returned from major reconstructive surgery following his near-fatal car crash, the 15-time major winner claimed that the FootJoy Premier Packard shoes he was wearing allowed him to be more stable.
Nike responded graciously, claiming they were simply happy to see his return to the sport, but they would do everything in their power to meet his new needs.
However, fast-forward a year and a half to the 2023 Hero World Challenge and Woods has once again returned wearing shoes that noticeably lack any Nike branding.
Not only are they lacking Nike branding, but they appear to be lacking branding of any kind.
What Golf Shoes Does Tiger Woods Wear?
Thoughts on Tiger's new swing?
(Via fullswingsimulators, paulhodowanic) pic.twitter.com/UjTrY27TxR
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) November 29, 2023
So, are they Nike, FootJoy or another brand entirely?
We've spent longer than we would like to admit pouring over images that have emerged online, and we think we've come to a conclusion.
It would appear that Woods is wearing a one-of-one custom-made hybrid shoe.
At first glance, the upper of the shoe looks very similar to that of a FootJot Traditions model, but on closer inspection, the stitching and panel composition are slightly off.
When looking at the sole plate, we were even more stumped; trawling through the archives, we couldn't find a like-for-like match, with the closest resemblance being held by Nike's Jordan Retro 6 G NRG (and even that's a reach if we're honest).
This Sherlock Holmes level of analysis has led us to believe this could be a completely custom outsole, designed to Woods' exact specs.
What's even more mystifying about these new shoes is the aforementioned lack of branding. If FootJoy had made these shoes, you would think the brand would be shouting from the rooftop about it, and likewise for Nike.
That said, we will speculate that these shoes could well be a Nike prototype.
The American mega-brand has more resources and manpower than most small cities, and it seems highly unlikely it would be willing to concede being the footwear brand of choice for the most influential golfer in the world.
And for that reason, we think this could be the first appearance of Nike's first effort to win Woods back.
Could we see a new TW signature shoe emerging for the start of the 2024 season? We really hope so.
If you want to find out if our speculation is accurate, make sure to check back for further updates about the most talked about shoes in golf.
