EA's recent unveiling of the covershot for the upcoming "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '11" game is creating buzz not because of Tiger's appearance on it but because of the addition of the Irish rookie. It is the first time someone other than Tiger has appeared on the game art.
EA is one of several corporations that have stood behind Tiger as an endorser of their products since Woods' notorious sex scandal broke. Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade have already pulled out and others are waiting on the sidelines to see how everything shakes down.
Does this mean EA is distancing themselves from Woods? Not so, said associate designer Travis Sailer told ESPN.
"We just think he's a very talented star, and he really reminds me of how Tiger was. Nobody has really been this consistently good so early in their careers since Tiger, so it made sense to have Rory dueling with Tiger on the cover," said Sailer.
Sailer also told ESPN that the EA had decided on the move since October when they decided to open up the game to Ryder Cup team play for the first time.
Players will also be able to take a team online on Xbox Live or the PSN and up to 24 players will be able to compete head-to-head as members of team.
The game is due out June 8 on PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Wii, and the iPhone.