The worst part of their relationship with the golfer, according to Tiger Woods’ former agent,
Tiger Woods was represented by golf’s first superagent, Hughes Norton, for his first two years as a professional before he was unexpectedly fired and Mark Steinberg took his place.
Hughes Norton, Tiger Woods’ first agent, has criticized his former client for lacking social graces despite not having spoken to the 15-time major winner since Woods fired him.
In the summer of 1996, Hughes began representing Woods, and the two-year arrangement formally began when the 20-year-old turned professional. Seven years before, he had worked as a junior talent scout at IMG and had met Woods and his father Earl.
The superagent represented a who’s who of golf’s greatest players, most notably Greg Norman, for 11 years. During their early days together, Hughes landed Woods unprecedented sponsorship deals; however, he never worked with him again, and IMG swiftly followed suit after his dismissal.
READ MORE: Following his unique invitation to the US Open, Tiger Woods chooses whether to participate
READ MORE: Because of persistent walking pain, Tiger Woods will play on the PGA Champions Tour in a golf buggy.
Mark Steinberg, who is now Woods’ agent, started representing him when he remained with the sports firm. But as part of his lucrative payout, Hughes was bound to confidentiality for ten years and was unable to take on the firm head-on.
Though he never went back to that field of employment, he has now discussed it in his recently published memoir, Rainmaker. When talking about the breakup with Woods, Hughes did not mince words.
In all honesty, Norton told Today’s Golfer that the worst thing was that there was no explanation. The way Tiger breaks up with people in his life—whether they be managers, girlfriends, or buddies—is just so strange. If I could have a conversation with Tiger now, I would ask him, Look back 25 years, why did you do that?
