The Loop

Plaintiff attorney: Tiger Woods 'smug,' not a strong witness

March 19, 2014

The attorney for Gotta Have it Golf, the memorabilia concern that won its lawsuit against Tiger Woods' company, ETW Corporation, last week was less than impressed with Woods as a witness.

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad77feb01eefe207f6d61a_golf-tours-news-blogs-local-knowledge-assets_c-2014-03-Tiger%20Woods%20lawsuit-thumb-300x390-118367.jpg

"He is kind of a smug guy, and frankly, I thought his performance was very flat," attorney Eric Isicoff told John Pacenti of South Florida's Daily Business Review.

Woods testified for more than 45 minutes last week, to no avail. An all-female jury of six ordered ETW Corp. to pay Gotta Have it Golf $668,000 in damages, a sum that conceivably could go to $1.3 million when interest is calculated.

"The only reason that [Woods] was paraded into court was because they thought there would be this celebrity awestruck reaction," Isicoff told Pacenti. "I don't think he helped his case at all. I don't think there was any celebrity reaction."

Isicoff also suggested that an all-female jury might have worked against Woods, given the high-profile scandal that rocked his life in late 2009. "Most people have had some impression on the guy," Isicoff said.

Gotta Have it Golf claimed in its lawsuit that "Woods breached a 2001 licensing agreement by not providing a specified number of autographs and photographs," the Miami Herald reported.