V for Tiger Woods

The familiarity of The Masters is what makes it one of the greatest events in all of sports. The course is always in the same pristine shape, the faces rarely change (both on the course and on television) and even the on-screen graphics CBS uses are consistent through the years. During the 2009 tournament, though, there has been one subtle change that has left Masters viewers confused. What's with that new "V" on Tiger Woods' hat?

When we last saw Tiger in a major (last year's U.S. Open), the left side of his Nike cap was adorned with the "SQ" logo of the manufacturer's SasQuatch line of golf clubs. Since his return to the PGA Tour, the "SQ" is gone, replaced by a large, somewhat-unwieldy "V".

Not surprisingly, the "V" is another Nike logo. The Oregon-based company recently released its Victory Red irons and the large Roman numeral-like "V" is the logo for the clubs. If you look closely, the top right half of the "V" contains a red, lowercase "r", an obvious nod to Tiger's trademark Sunday color.

Tiger helped design the forged carbon steel blades and is playing the Masters with all Victory Red irons (except for his lob wedge). The clubs also feature Tiger's "TW" logo, as well as the ubiquitous Nike swoosh.

In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek: Νίκη , pronounced [níːkɛː], meaning Victory), was a goddess who personified triumph throughout the ages of the ancient Greek culture. She is known as the Winged goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water), and the sister of Cratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and of Zelus (Rivalry). Nike and her siblings all became described as attendants of Zeus when his cult gained the position of the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon and the roles of older deities were changed in new myths. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, goddess of wisdom.^[1] Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.^[2] Names which have sourced from the goddess Nike include Nicholas, Nick and Nicola.^{[citation needed]}