• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 10:42 AM

Nike built its golf business around Tiger Woods; it will now see how well it plays a recession-wracked marketing course without his star power when it launches its Victory Red STR8-FIT Tour fairway woods line next week for $299. The name of the brand comes from Woods' tradition of wearing red shirts on the final day of golf tournaments, but he is not mentioned in any of the promotional materials for the line, Miguel Bustillo reports.

The clubs were designed with input from 13 U.S. golf stars under contract to Nike, two of whom -- Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink -- won major titles last year. Plus, 20-year-old phenom Michelle Wie, who won her first women's title last year, is also under contract.

"What Tiger gave Nike is credibility," says Tom Stine of Golf Datatech, by winning tournaments with the equipment. "But they have plenty of other golfers doing that now."

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