News
Fans Select Rickie Fowler and Rory Mcilroy to Join Tiger Woods on Cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13
October 24, in the year of our Lord 2011 – EA
SPORTS™ announced today that Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy have
been selected by the fans to join Tiger Woods on the cover of
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 13 in North America and Europe,
respectively. Their victories come on the heels of a three week
voting contest that sparked debates amongst golf enthusiasts and
campaigning by the world’s top golfers through their personal
social media channels. During the final week of voting, Rickie
Fowler defeated Bubba Watson by a final margin of 52% to 48% to
win the American side of the bracket in the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR
13 Match Play cover vote, while Rory McIlroy defeated Luke
Donald by a final margin of 54% to 46% to win the European side.
Similar to previous EA SPORTS cover athlete votes for Madden NFL
and NCAA Football, community reaction to the Tiger Woods PGA
TOUR 13 Match Play cover vote was overwhelmingly positive for
providing fans an opportunity to decide who they think should be
on the cover. Showing tremendous enthusiasm and engagement
throughout the three week contest, fans cast more than 250,000
votes from over 35 countries around the world.
“Over the past several weeks we’ve been thrilled to witness the
passion of our fans for this competition as well as the golfers
who have actively rallied their fan base for this unique honor,”
EA SPORTS Marketing Director Craig Evans said. “Fan engagement
has been critical to the development and success of the Tiger
Woods PGA TOUR franchise over the past decade and it’s great to
see so many fans excited about the cover vote and Tiger Woods
PGA TOUR 13.”
From October 3 through October 23, fans of the Tiger Woods PGA
TOUR Facebook page participated in a “match play” style cover
vote, choosing from 16 of the best golfers from around the world
to find both an American and European representative to join
Tiger Woods on the cover of the next iteration of the popular
golf franchise in their respective region.
“Appearing on the cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 was an
amazing experience and helped introduce me to a whole new fan
base around the world,” said Rory McIlroy. “But this year holds
special meaning because it was the fans who decided to put me on
the cover once again.”
“For someone that grew up playing Tiger Woods PGA TOUR and is a
huge fan of the franchise, this is a great moment in my career,”
said Rickie Fowler. “I’m excited to join Tiger on the cover of
this year’s game and want to especially thank all of my fans who
spread the word and voted for me.”
Cover art for Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13, featuring Rickie Fowler
and Rory McIlroy alongside Tiger Woods in their respective
regions, will be released in November.
“There have been a number of great young and up-and-coming
golfers to join the sport over the last few years and Rickie
Fowler and Rory McIlroy are certainly on that list,” said Tiger
Woods. “Their wins are a testament to their passionate fan base
and I’m looking forward to having Rickie and Rory join me on the
cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13.”
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 will once again provide fans the
opportunity to play on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National
Golf Club and will feature all-new experiences around Tiger
Woods’ memorable golf accomplishments throughout his lifetime
and will be the first controller-free, voice-enabled and body
tracking sports simulation game to support the Kinect™ motion
control system for the Xbox 360® videogame system from
Microsoft.
In addition to the standard edition game, there will also be a
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13: The Masters Collector’s Edition
available. This collector’s edition will have its own unique box
art and expanded features including all the courses and features
available in the standard edition, plus five additional golf
courses, Augusta National’s world-class Tournament Practice
Facility, and much more.
Over the past two decades, EA SPORTS has introduced a series of
immersive and authentic golf experiences across a variety of
game platforms that has helped expand the popularity of the
sport amongst fans. The EA SPORTS golf product portfolio
includes the award-winning Tiger Woods PGA TOUR franchise, Tiger
Woods PGA TOUR Online and EA SPORTS PGA TOUR® Golf Challenge for
Facebook.