Giles Morgan is HSBC's global head of sponsorship, with control over the global bank's investments in a pair of big golf tournaments, including this week's WGC-HSBC Champions in China.
Like a prudent investment banker, Morgan has evaluated the return HSBC was getting on paying Tiger Woods big bucks for its January event in Abu Dhabi and decided it's not worth the money. Morgan will no longer cut a $3 million check to Woods just for showing up, saying golf, particularly in China, has moved beyond needing the 14-time major winner or any single marquee player to make a tournament a success.
"Every top player in the world is welcome to play this event if they qualify and we would be delighted to have them here," Morgan said to The Guardian newspaper. "But we have moved beyond the point where we just need ‘a player’ to turn up to boost PR, gratification and media coverage. We are not interested in that, we are interested in genuine growth of the sport and I think we are sitting on a fantastic new chapter.”
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