Tiger Woods is being scolded by his father from beyond the grave -- in a new Nike commercial that can only be described as an artsy PR effort to humanize the golfer.



In the ad, Tiger stands stoically as the voice of his deceased dad, Earl Woods, urges his son to reflect on his life.

As we first reported, Tiger shot the commercial on March 25 on the Isleworth Country Club golf course in his neighborhood in Windermere, Florida.

Tiger Woods' loving wife, Elin Nordegren, was spotted taking the kids to school today ... sporting her now traditional Nike garb.



As we first reported, Tiger shot a new Nike commercial yesterday at the Isleworth Country Club near his home.

They're just one big happy family.

TMZ has learned Tiger Woods shot a commercial for Nike yesterday ... in his own backyard.



Sources say Tiger -- who was wearing his trademark black and red during at least part of the shoot -- shot the commercial on the Isleworth Country Club golf course in his neighborhood in Windermere, Florida Thursday morning.

We're told a Tiger stand-in was used Wednesday to set up the shots.

As for the shoot, we're told Tiger got in and out very quickly.

The photo on the left was taken Wednesday during the set up.

Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi is in the middle of a nasty dogfight between his family and Nike -- and it's all over a speech he made more than 40 years ago.


Vince died back in 1970 but Nike wanted to license the words and audio of an unidentified speech that the late Green Bay Packers coach once made for a new ad campaign. Nike claims they struck a deal with Lombardi's 2 kids -- Vince Jr. and Susan -- and even paid them $150,000 up front to expedite things.

But in a lawsuit filed in Oregon, Nike claims after they wrote the check they discovered that no audio of the speech actually exists ... and accuse the Lombardis of concealing that fact during negotiations. Now, Nike wants their money back.

The best part of the lawsuit: Nike seems to acknowledge that their guy who worked on the deal with the Lombardis was "running out the door on a personal trip" and signed the contract without paying proper attention to some last minute revisions -- one of which made the $150,000 advance "nonrefundable."

So Nike claims that now the Lombardis don't want to give the money back -- and are suing for breach of contract, mutual mistake and fraud.

In completely obvious news, Tiger Woods' apology got the Swooshtastic stamp of approval from Nike -- who's already looking for their cash cow to get back on the golf course.



A rep from Nike tells TMZ, "Tiger has apologized and made his position clear. Nike fully supports him and his family. We look forward to him returning to golf."

Elin Nordegren may not be wearing a wedding ring, but these pictures are the most powerful proof yet she's behind Tiger Woods.


Elin is swooshed out in Nike gear -- the company that stood behind Tiger. It's more than coincidental that Tiger was snapped yesterday with his own Nike accoutrement.

The pic was taken as Elin picked her daughter up from school this AM.

It was the holy grail -- the most sought after image in the world -- but when the first image of Tiger Woods was released through Getty Images yesterday, the move blocked the paparazzi from their million dollar shot.


TMZ has checked around with some major paparazzi agencies, who tell us the first picture of Tiger could have scored them more than $1,000,000 in worldwide distribution profits.

But when the image was released through Getty Images -- a non-paparazzi, subscription-based photo agency -- the value of the photo plummeted ... as most major media outlets got the pic essentially for free as part of their deal with Getty.

FYI -- Just 24 days before the shot was taken, Getty had announced a "multi-year" deal with the PGA, in which both sides touted the move as a "strategic partnership." Turns out, they were right.

We called Getty for comment -- but they're on lockdown.

While Tiger Woods is losing sponsors left and right, TMZ has learned his wife, Elin Nordegren, is "very close" to signing a deal of her own ... and the company happens to be Nike's archenemy -- Puma.



An official from Puma -- the athletic wear company -- has confirmed they are in "internal discussions" to sign Elin as a spokesperson for a new Swedish-inspired clothing line called Tretorn.

The rep tells us Puma is after Elin because they feel she's "a good brand fit."

We could not reach Elin for comment.

Nike has a clear message for Tiger Woods -- hurry back.



Just hours after Tiger announced his indefinite break from golf, his biggest sponsor was already talking about his triumphant return.

TMZ spoke with a rep for Nike, who told us, "Tiger has been part of Nike for more than a decade. He is the best golfer in the world and one of the greatest athletes of his era. We look forward to his return to golf. He and his family have Nike's full support."

DJ AM had more shoes than freakin' Imelda Marcos -- and now his homies have posted a bunch of his sought after sneakers on Ebay to raise money for the DJ AM Memorial Fund.



The fund -- dedicated to helping people struggling with addiction -- should pull in some serious dough from the auction ... some of these sneaks are already going for more than a thousand bucks!

DJ AM was about to have his own exclusive shoe put out by Nike -- but since his passing, the sneaker king has put a hold on releasing AM's kicks to the public.



We spoke to a rep for Nike, who said AM had been working with Nike for months on a limited edition line of Nike Dunks with his own logo emblazoned on them. We're told the design was complete and approved by AM, but Nike isn't releasing them yet because they are working with his family to figure out the "next step in terms of release."

AM had a well known obsession with Nike kicks -- owning around 700 pairs of 'em.