Tiger's Tip: Just Do It - Throw Them Away

He is the world's number one golfer, winning eight majors and earning millions of pounds as he swung his way into the game's record books.

However, Tiger Woods left little hope for the average golfer who tackles the fairways using mediocre equipment after he revealed yesterday that a driver that had been specially designed for him by Nike at a cost of millions of pounds was just not good enough and that he was returning to an older model that is no longer manufactured.

Nike executives were left scratching their heads yesterday as they came to terms with the news that if the world number one cannot put their driver to good use then what hope for everybody else?

Woods' decision to swap his Nike driver for the 975D Titleist he used as an amateur and in his early professional years has proved a big setback for Nike's attempt to tap into the lucrative golf market.

Nike had based its entire multi-million dollar golf marketing strategy around Woods and only started manufacturing equipment when he signed for the company two years ago in a five-year £90m deal .

Woods, who has earned £16m in prize money over the past four seasons, has admitted his driving has gone to pieces. Once considered one of the finest drivers in the game, he ranks 128th in the USPGA accuracy list this year.

Woods won five of the six major championships he played between 1999 and April 2001 with Titleist equipment. Since using Nike he has lost all four leading championships he has played in.

Woods, who will use his old Titleist this week at the Buick Open, said last night: "I need more confidence in my driving. I wanted to go back to something I've played well with in the past."

Mike Kelly, Nike's business director of golf clubs said last night that Nike intended to continue working with Woods and that the company's specialists would start working immediately on a driver that he would be happy with.