Back in November, Buick cut ties with their Super Endorser Tiger Woods, because he was looking to spend more time with the fam and open up his schedule a bit. (Oh, also: The whole “Buick was looking to cut costs” thing. The auto industry: not so hot at the moment.)

But, lest Buick forget Tiger for good, they’re really, really, really, really, really hoping he’s going to make his season debut at the Buick Invitational on Feb. 5-8. Because he’s Tiger Woods. And Tiger Woods sells. But according to Shane Bacon (mmm, Bacon) at FanHouse, this would be a bit of an early return for him. Couple that with the fact Woods’ wife is expecting to give birth next month, and well, it’s not looking so hot at the moment. But hey, it doesn’t mean Buick still can’t try.

Wilson has been trading e-mail barbs with Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, just as a friendly way of keeping the Buick Invitational in the conversation when Woods finally does make his decision.

When Woods and Buick ended their endorsement relationship after nine years back in November, Wilson sent Steinberg a message.

“I said, ‘Despite the divorce, we still want him,’ ” Wilson recalled with a smile.

He also let Steinberg know that his daughter is an obstetrician and gynecologist, saying that if Elin Woods could travel, she’d be in good hands during tournament week.

Wilson later added that his other daughter is a great babysitter, his auntie cooks a mean fillet, and his wife is a master masseuse. He then got on his knees and started pleading.

As Will touched on yesterday, GM cut ties with their Tiger Wood sponsorship — effective at the end of this year. Because well, they were paying him a lot of money, and that’s not something GM has a lot of at this current juncture.

And, it’s looking like another golfer, one Mr. Fred Couples, might see his 16-year relationship with the company cut sometime very soon too. As the USA Today points out today, this is a trend we might very well see continue.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” predicts Terry Lefton, editor-at-large for SportsBusiness Journal. “Auto and finance have been the lifeblood of sports. You’ll see a lot of cutbacks in both of them.”

If current sponsors want out, few want in, adds marketing consultant Dawn Ridley of Ridley & Associates. Companies are reluctant to sign new endorsement and sponsorship deals. If they do, they’re demanding one-year deals instead of long-term contracts.

“We’re seeing things we’ve never been before —everything is up for discussion,” she says. “If it’s not signed on the dotted line, there’s resistance and hesitance.”

Battered by the slump in U.S. auto sales, cash-strapped GM is slashing sports and entertainment marketing spending, spokesman Pete Ternes says. But while the company won’t purchase its usual commercial time during the Super Bowl and Academy Awards, it will continue to sponsor the PGA Tour’s Buick Open and Buick Invitational tournaments through 2010, Ternes says.

For the sake of all that is good and holy, let’s hope Mastercard, Sprint, Gatorade and DirecTV can stay above the fray in all this mess. A Peyton Manning-less endorsement world is just not something I think I can handle.

The word came down late this afternoon that Tiger Woods and Buick, and by association, General Motors, will no longer be aligned as corporate sponsors. I suppose it’s a touch sad because Tiger’s Buick ads were about as humorous as car commercials can get (see: Mellencamp, John Cougar for future reference).

Of course, GM also has a huge spot on FOX NEWS’ ticker running right now that says (well, paraphrases): “THIS SPLIT IS TOTALLY UNRELATED TO THE $25 BILLION WE WANT TO GET FROM THE GOVERNMENT. (WE SWEAR!!!1)” It also mentions that Tiger wants to spend more time with his family.

“Tiger is expecting a second child in his family and he’s looking for more time in his schedule,” said Peter Ternes, G.M.’s director of communications for sales, service and marketing. “At the same time, General Motors is looking to cut costs… we both agreed that we would part our ways.”

The announcement ends a nearly decade-long relationship that coincided with Woods’s growing dominance in golf. In 2000, his first year endorsing G.M.’s Buick line of cars, Woods became the youngest golfer to have won all four major tournaments. In addition to appearing in numerous advertisements for the automaker, the Buick logo was prominently displayed on his golf bag during tournaments.

The sad reality is that GM said to Tiger “We are out of money, will you work for free?” and he said “Um, no thanks.” Because, well, none of us want to work for free. It’s against our inherent value systems.

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