This article appeared in the February 2020 issue of Chicago District Golfer.
In none of the more memorable sports scenes of 2019, Tiger Woods joyously embraced those closest to him just off Augusta National’s 18th green following his historic Masters triumph. His children. His mother. His girlfriend. And his longtime agent, Mark Steinberg, whose journey to that spot in the pandemonium began decades before on the public golf courses in his hometown of Peoria.
Steinberg, a 1985 graduate of Richwoods High School in Peoria, has been Woods’ business manager since 1998, when the two met as young men. Over the ensuing 21 years, “Steiny,” as Woods calls him, has become a trusted friend and confidant to the player many regard as the greatest of all time, as well as many more of golf’s top stars.
Steinberg grew up in what he describes as “a very sports-laden house” in Peoria. Whether it was avidly taking in a Bradley University basketball game or playing golf on the likes of the local Donovan (then known as Northmoor) and Kellogg tracks with his dad and friends, Steinberg lived and breathed sports.
“Growing up, sports were a very, very big part of my upbringing,” said Steinberg, who estimates he rarely missed attending a Bradley home basketball game between being a toddler and leaving for college. “I was glued to the television or, back then, even the radio to listen and watch sports.
“I was a crazy, crazy, basketball and sports fan.”
While Steinberg’s golf acumen never exceeded anything more than casual rounds, he was an accomplished basketball player at Richwoods. He eventually left Peoria for the University of Illinois, where he walked on to the basketball team and was a member of the “Flyin’ Illini” 1989 Final Four team alongside the likes of future NBA players Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson and Kendall Gill.
Steinberg’s stint in Champaign ultimately ended up lasting seven years, as he followed up his undergraduate studies by attending law school. His career plans were initially in flux, but his passion for sports ultimately led him to the agency world.
“I knew I wanted to do something in sports, but I had no idea what that meant,” Steinberg recalled. “Agent, agency, work for a team, a league, I had no idea. Once I went to law school and did a couple of internships, one for a law firm and one in Cleveland at a sports management company, it became crystal clear that [sports agent] was a path I wanted to pursue.”
Following graduation from law school in 1992, Steinberg began working at IMG in Cleveland. His initial role was in the women’s golf division, an area with which Steinberg was admittedly unfamiliar. Nevertheless, Steinberg’s tenacity allowed him to excel in what he called “an incredible training ground,” and his success ultimately earned him an audience with IMGclient Woods when the young superstar was looking for a new agent in 1998.
“He wanted to stay with IMG, so he interviewed a couple of the younger generation,” Steinberg recalled of his initial interactions with Woods. “He and I hit it off at the time, and 21-plus years later, we’re still going strong at it.”
Since then, Steinberg has been one of Woods’ most trusted advisers and friends. From the highs of Woods’ initial reign of dominance to the lows of his injuries and off-the-course missteps, Steinberg says he and Woods have “been through a lot together” — including the incredible culmination of Woods’ comeback last April.
“The array of emotions that was going through me that entire day — it’s so hard to put in words,” Steinberg recalled of Sunday at the 2019 Masters.
“[Tiger] didn’t know if he would walk again. He didn’t know if he would be able to play with his kids again and there he is holding his kids in his arms and also wearing the green jacket. There are a number of memories that I have in my mind from the 28 years I’ve been doing this with all different clients, but that is clearly one that I will never forget.”
Another memory Steinberg recently shared with Woods was being on hand for his Presidents Cup triumph at Royal Melbourne in December, with the victorious American team also featuring his clients Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland. Steinberg’s lengthy relationship with Woods and years of experience in the industry have helped shape his approach to developing partnerships with the game’s top players, like Thomas, Woodland and Justin Rose, in his current role as one of four partners at the New York-based Excel Sports Management.
“I learned early on, with Tiger actually, he was like, ‘We’ll do well together. Always be true to me and tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.’ That’s a tough thing in our industry,” Steinberg said. “A lot of athletes have ‘yes’ men and women around them at all times. We don’t do that. You can have a friendship with each client — you need to have a friendship — but there has to be that division of friendship and business and when you have to draw that line. I appreciate knowing that and always seeing where that is.”
Also fueling Steinberg’s professional success is a passion for his career and sports that was developed as a Peoria youth and hasn’t waned to this day. “I love what I do,” Steinberg said. “I don’t know how many people can say, 28 years into their career, that they absolutely love what they do, but 28 years into it, I’m having as much fun now as I did when I started in 1992.”
As a result of his professional dedication, Steinberg’s own skill as a golfer has admittedly never had time to develop. The resident of the New York metropolitan area calls himself “a very bad 13 or 14 handicap” and has traditionally maxed out at about one round per month. However, he says he is starting to get “reengaged” in the playing side of the game as a way to spend time with his three children – Jessica, Brant and C.J. These family- fueled rounds in the same vein as Steinberg’s time on Peoria courses as a youth with his father Mike, in addition to Jessica recently beginning her freshman year at the University of Illinois, has left Steinberg reflecting fondly on his Illinois roots and the role they played in getting him to where he is today.
“It was an incredible place to grow up,” Steinberg said of Peoria. “The Midwest is near and dear to my heart.” ●
Casey Richards is the Senior Director of Communications at the CDGA. He has worked for the Association since 2014.
