Should Tiger Woods play in Wellington next year, as has been suggested, it will be his friendship with New Zealand caddy Steve Williams that entices him rather than the lure of the dollar.
Since Williams began carrying Woods' bag, rumours have regularly surfaced that the world's top golfer will play in New Zealand.
The latest is that Woods will play at Paraparaumu Beach, Wellington, next January at a resurrected New Zealand PGA tournament.
During the New Zealand Open in January, Williams said that Woods talked to him about New Zealand a lot and that he was likely to visit the country at some time, whether it was to play golf or go fishing.
Woods' tournament appearance fee is close to $US2 million ($4.59 million), but being with Williams in his homeland would be an added incentive for him to come.
Several attempts have been made to resurrect the New Zealand PGA tournament, last played in 1987. The latest attempt came during the World Cup of Golf at Auckland's Gulf Harbour course in 1998.
That proposal, backed by the England-based Parallel Media Group, had the tournament worth $US1 million and scheduled for January last year in Auckland. It failed to go ahead.
New Zealand PGA president Richard Ellis said a group of Wellington promoters had talked to him four months ago about resurrecting the PGA tournament, but had not confirmed whether they could raise the necessary money.
- NZPA
Golf: Kiwi caddy may woo Tiger to NZ
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