Tiger Woods has finally acknowledged what has been blindingly obvious for a year and discarded his Nike driver. The world number one, who has a $100 million contract with the company, said: "I need more confidence in my driving." David Davies reports

In order to get it, he has gone back to the Titleist equipment, specifically their 975D driver, which he used so magnificently in his early professional days.

The decision will be devastating for Nike, who have invested a fortune in trying, and failing, to make a driver Woods can use. When he first signed for them the company did not manufacture clubs or balls. But his incredible early successes and the fortunes they made from their Tiger Woods clothing lines persuaded them to get into the equipment market. Now it has exploded in their face.

The company's golf club business director, Mike Kelly, says: "He's our number one athlete and our toughest customer. We don't have what he wants now, which is a club smaller in the clubhead and slower off the clubface. From a brand standpoint, that's where we need to circle the wagons and get a new driver in his hands. Hopefully this fall and next spring we'll give him another opportunity to drive the ball the way he wants to."

Then, in an effort at damage limitation, Kelly added: "This is natural for most golfers. Whether you're the best in the world or an average golfer you go back in the garage and find something you were successful with."

In making the change Woods has admitted the statistics and the pundits were right: that his driving has gone to pieces during the last year or more. The man who won five of the six major championships played between August 1999 and April 2001 with Titleist equipment has won only two of the last seven, and none of the last five, with the Nike driver in the bag.

Woods, once the longest straight driver in the world, has had to concede he is that no longer. The statistics on the US Tour show when it comes to hitting fairways, he does so only 64 per cent of the time, which ranks him 128th out of 196 in the driving accuracy category.

And the debutant professional who, with his first drive in a pro tournament blasted the ball 336 yards down the middle, no longer exists, either. Woods averages 293 yards, good for 24th place in the driving distance stats.

Woods has not just been blinded by bucks. His ego was flattered by invitations to assist with the development of new Nike clubs. Before he went he told Nike: "Don't expect me to change if the new stuff is only as good as my current clubs. It's got to be better."

Woods was in denial for much of the time he was trying to get a Nike driver to work. At the Los Angeles Open this year, he said after 36 holes: "I've driven the ball really good this week." But the best player in the world had, in fact, hit only 15 of 28 fairways.

At the Masters the stats were really bad. Woods was only 19th in the driving accuracy category, 21st in driving distance, 15th in the tournament.

Perhaps the final determination was made at Royal St George's two weeks ago in the British Open. Rarely has a face looked more thunderous than that of Woods as he was driven back to the first tee after losing a ball with his first tee shot. He sent his second shot to almost exactly the same place and was lucky to get away with a triple-bogey seven.

That he lost the championship by two shots to someone he had never heard of, Ben Curtis, would only have fuelled his desire to find a reliable driver.