The Cons Of Tiger Woods
I’m sure no one would argue today that Tiger Woods has been a good thing for golf. I was in high school when he was just deciding to turn pro and subsequently whipping everyone else’s butts the second he did. This made it a lot more accessible to me as here was this guy only a few years older than I was dominating a sport that I’d written off in my first 15 or so years of life as ‘an old man’s sport.’
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It’s the top draw for people with only a passing interest in golf. Your embarrassing uncle, (you know, the one you have to remind to “dress nicely” to go to Applebee’s, and thinks real men play football and that’s it)? He’s not going to sit down and watch a golf tournament, but if it’s on, the first comment is no longer “change that crap!” but rather “Hey, how’s Tiger doing?” A sports bar might have a TV turned to the U.S. Open as long as he’s got a good shot. And if you do watch an entire day’s worth of major golf tournament coverage on TV, have you ever noticed how it seems like half the broadcast is dedicated to how Tiger Woods is doing and where he’s at? Yeah, that’s not a coincidence.
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The thing is, I also remember the time before Woods turned pro. My dad was always a fan of the game, so I remember hearing “Greg Norman”, “Tom Lehman” or “Fred Couples” thrown around, usually a guy seemed to have a good run of a year or so, and then the talk was on to someone new. But the name of the year was “Tiger Woods” in 1999…and then it’s the same in 2000. And 2001. He doesn’t play for over half a year in 2008 and it’s still all anyone wants to talk about. And it doesn’t hurt that the advertising world has tried to convince everyone to drink his sports drink, wear his watch, use his razor.
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It’s great now, but could all of this eventually be bad for golf and its popularity?
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I’m thinking of it this way: In the beginning there was golf. And you can guess that golf tended to be followed largely by those you may have collectively referred to as “the man.” Your dad, your Driver’s Ed instructor, your English professor who dared to give your papers “D’s” after you had woken up a whole 20 minutes early to scratch something out just before class..
Along comes Tiger Woods. He’s young, which is always exciting. He’s fit, he’s good-looking and he wears a lot of red so it’s kind of hard not to notice him even if he wasn’t sending balls he teed up in Augusta through your back window. (Note: Where you live is irrelevant to this statement. It’s like those tricks where you think of a number, do all these calculations and get your original number. It works every time.)
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But here’s the question to think about – and Tiger fans, bear with me for a moment – but what happens when he is no longer on the PGA Tour? Of course you lose the fair-weather fans. That’s a given. It’s like when a team trades mid-season for a great player that they know they can’t sign long-term. These fans are nothing more than rentals. But I feel like there’s this “on-the-fence” group as well. There’s people who tune in, have some interest, pay some attention to “those other 124 guys” on the Tour and anyone else who happens to show up. But right now they’re getting spoiled.
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Golf is different than a team sport where fans have a rabid interest in their favorite team and vehemently despise their main opponents. Sure, a person may have his favorites, but the casual fan just likes to see guys win because they’re recognizable. A name you know and know performs well can go pretty far in the average person’s enjoyment of golf. So when the most recognizable name on the PGA Tour is gone, I can see it taking a big fan-hit from people who never saw a reason to learn who Angel Cabrera or really any of the 2009 major winners were because Tiger is always going to come back. You know he won’t follow 2010 without a major win like in 2009.
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But what happens in 2026? When Mr. Woods is busy polishing his 712th championship trophy and there’s no big name to take his place because this was the big name for professional golf? I can’t be sure, but I’m guessing golf’s popularity takes a U.S. Economy 2008-sized hit. On the plus side, this could be just the boost the Champions Tour needs.
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Photo courtesy of Flickr
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