The Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tavistock Group formed a partnership designed to elevate Woods’ World Challenge tournament to new heights. Now it has a new title sponsor, Hero Motocorp. “This title sponsorship of the Hero World Challenge is reflective of brand Hero’s rapidly expanding global footprint. Having been associated with the game in India for over two decades and being the title sponsor for the Hero Indian Open for both men and women for over 15 years, it is only befitting that Hero should now be stepping out of the Indian shores and take the grandest stage, and what grander stage could it have been for Hero than the Hero World Challenge?” remarked Pawan Munjal, vice-chairman and CEO of Hero Motorcorp. The company is considered the world’s largest manufacturer of two wheel vehicles.

Munjal stated his first meeting with Woods sealed the fate of the eventual partnership. “I first happened to be introduced to Tiger right here in this club in the dressing room during the Tavistock Cup by another friend of mine, Daniel Chopra,” he explained. “I think that was the day I decided sooner than later I would get into a friendship with Tiger, I would work together with the Tiger Woods Foundation towards the betterment of the underprivileged, and also for the betterment of golf, not just in the U.S. but around the globe.”

Some may recall that Woods made a trip to India earlier this year. It was to see Munjal and play in a private skins game. It turned into a crowd of people at Delhi Golf Club as an estimated 5,000 spectators lined the fairways. Woods was reported to have accepted a $2 million appearance fee to make the side trip after playing in the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. “It was my proud privilege to host Tiger when he took time out to come on his maiden visit to Delhi in February of this year to play a round of golf with some of us. In our cricket-mad country, his visit generated unprecedented enthusiasm and accentuated the importance of the association I felt we must foster with Tiger going forward,” said Munjal. “We’ve never had such large crowds on the golf course, and there were kids five years, seven years old, there were all people, ladies, men in wheelchairs, who came to see Tiger on the golf course, and they were lining up on the tee, 5,000 of them,” he continued.

“I feel there are many synergies between us at Hero, a rapidly growing global brand, and Tiger, a true champion who exemplifies great toughness, never-give-up attitude, and sustained excellence for the game. His foundation mirrors his own personal attributes. In August last year, Hero Motocorp became only the second company in the world but the fastest to produce and sell 50 million motorcycles and scooters since its inception.  Today, one out of every 10 motorcycles in the world globally is a Hero bike, and one out of every second motorcycle in India is a Hero bike. Even as Hero two-wheelers have gone on to become the most popular mode of personal transport for millions, the brand Hero has also become synonymous with sports, supporting and promoting a diverse area of sports in India and globally, most notably cricket, golf and hockey. Last year we produced 6.25 million motorcycles and scooters, and I have set myself a target to get up to 12 million annually by the year 2020. So 6.25 today translates to 23,000 motorcycles every day, which is a very large number. So we have to take our motorcycle scooters to the rest of the globe. We’ve started going into Africa, into Latin America, into Central America. So to take the brand global, clearly we have to go on to the global stage, so this was the right thing for us to do. As a passionate golfer myself, I fully understand the significance of our association with an event of the highest caliber such as this and what it means for Hero.”

“Look at the title of our tournament, the World Challenge,” said Woods. “It means the world, and Hero Motocorp and what Mr. Munjal has done with his company has been remarkable, and it’s a natural fit. You look at all of our participants in the fields over the years; they’ve played from all over the world. We’ve got guys from South Africa, from Australia, we’ve had guys from Canada, Paraguay, we’ve had them from everywhere, and golf is a global sport, and we wanted our tournament to be a global tournament. That’s one of the reasons why we named it the World Challenge.  Now with Hero on board, I think it further cements that, and I think that with what Hero is doing around the world globally and their impact that they’re having, I think it’s a natural fit for us as a foundation that we can explore other options of expansion and how we can expand and maybe introduce satellite learning centers, not just here in the United States but also around the world.”

Talks have already begun in preliminary stages of Woods potentially setting up a chapter of his foundation in India. Munjal acknowledged his company would look to expand manufacturing in the United States. “As we come into the United States with our products, we will start bringing them from India or maybe from South America, but for sure we are looking at manufacturing in the United States,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s going to be Florida or some other state. It could be the Carolinas, could be Ohio. I’m really not sure, but definitely manufacturing in the United States.”

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