Tiger signs four-year deal with India company

Tiger Woods is no longer the world's top endorsement moneyspinner, but the golf star's backing remains solid enough to land a four-year deal announced Tuesday with India's Hero MotoCorp.

The world's largest maker of motorcycles and scooters with 6.3 million sold in the 2013-14 business year will rely upon Woods as a pitchman as it tries to expand its brand globally, into Europe late next year and the United States in 2016.

"It gives me extreme pleasure and pride to associate our brand with Tiger Woods," said Pawan Munjal, Hero's chief executive officer. "We believe Tiger's brand, Tiger's recognition, Tiger's attributes will also lift and make the brand Hero as recognizable as Tiger."

Woods, a former world number one and 14-time major champion, was the world's highest-paid athlete from 2001 to 2011 according to Forbes magazine, based largely on his endorsement deals.

But in 2009, at the same Isleworth gated community where the Hero World Challenge tees off Thursday, a traffic accident involving Woods set off a chain of events that unveiled Woods' secret sex life with multiple mistresses. That would lead to his divorce from wife Elin and the destruction of his once-perfect image as a corporate endorser, several firms dropping him in the wake of the sex scandal.

Since then, Woods has rebuilt his brand name with such backers as Nike standing beside him. Last June, in the latest Forbes rankings, Woods ranked sixth in athlete income with $61.2 million (49.4 million euros), 90 percent of it from endorsements.

Munjal calls Woods "an icon for millions around the world" and adds, "He is indeed a phenomenon, a symbol of humility in victory and grace in adversity. An achiever par excellence, Tiger's appeal and charisma spans across continents cutting through barriers of geography, age, language and nationalities."

Woods met Munjal at Isleworth at a dinner following the Tavistock Cup, a showdown between private country club teams of golf stars. That led to Woods playing at Delhi GolfClub and to the latest partnership, which benefits Woods' charity foundation that supports youth educational opportunities.