Bringing Tour Golf Back

[gr8dryv]

My vote is for Rickie. I'm not of his generation, but I see the appeal he has to a wide audience all around. You see little kids with their orange Puma stuff at the events, the chicks dig him and he hasn't done anything to piss off the sponsors (that I know of).

 

[McRock]

I see what you are saying, but if it comes to who brings more people to the game I think we have seen a lot more young kids and women coming to tournaments wearing Puma stuff ever since Rickie joined the tour. You just don't see that with Rory. Being at the Memorial a few times I noticed the biggest galleries were for 1) Tiger Woods and 2) Rickie Fowler and only one of them was near the top of the leaderboard

Yea, it's just my opinion. I don't see kids and women wearing PUMA clothes as a sign that more people are coming to the game of golf. They may buy the clothes, but they don't necessarily play. I'm fully aware that Rickie draws huge crowds and sells a lot of clothes. But in the end, if you assume that either one could be the next great superstar, my gut feeling was that Rory could bring more to the game. Some of Rickie's celebrity prowess I decided to offset with the fact that Nike could spend big bucks marketing Rory (I know they have, I'm just saying they could media blitz it if they wanted to).

It was a close call for me, I just chose based on my gut.

~Rock

 

[d_in_la]

Fowler has the whole kit and caboodle - a big of swagger, humor, game, style and a great social media presence.

 

[Agent Jay]

They both bring a different "take" to golf, but numbers aside, I think Rickie is the man. He had more fan base/followers and really interacts with them via social media.

 

[Tadashi70]

See in the real world standpoint your right but that's not what he asked, he gave the scenario of both of them being the best so neither in his OP would dominate the other.

That is not what JB asked or setup. He said be subjective and take out your likes or dislikes. Nothing about an even level of skills.

 

[IceyShanks]

I think Rickie Fowler. Reason being he is popular and moves the needles without actually winning. It would be like that on steroids if he does start to dominate the sport.

Not sure that it would ever reach Tiger level, his phenomonon will never be matched, but I think it could maybe reach Mickelson levels

I agree on Fowler, and if his success comes in the winners circle, I have no doubt it'll really bump him up.

 

[mayday1775]

If Rickie could get hot and start dominating like Tiger did in the early 2000's I think it would really bring in some new young players to the sport and rejeuvinate (sp) the sport again.

 

[jitzy]

That is not what JB asked or setup. He said be subjective and take out your likes or dislikes. Nothing about an even level of skills.

He said one would turn into the dominant force like Tiger was, maybe I read it wrong but that to me would take both players skill out of the question and make them both equal in this scenario and the whole thing would go to who would move the needle most. That being said I think Fowler is a bigger draw as far as putting butts in the seat.

 

[Tadashi70]

He said one would turn into the dominant force like Tiger was, maybe I read it wrong but that to me would take both players skill out of the question and make them both equal in this scenario and the whole thing would go to who would move the needle most. That being said I think Fowler is a bigger draw as far as putting butts in the seat.

So if you take skill out of the equation them you have to take away social media and everything else. That makes no sense. He entire thread has been based on their persona, skills and which would be a bigger a draw.

You like Rickie based on his social media savy not because he has shiwn the level of skill Rory has and that's cool. Social media has had nothing to do with any of the driving forces in golf. Golf has always been carried by skilled players. Arnie was the first to be uber popular but also had the skills to back it up. Take away the 'golf boys' and twitter, RF isn't even run of the mill. He's Kyle Stanley or Pat Perez, guys that we know can play and show up everything once and a while.

Norman carried the tour as a foreigner, Faldo was a draw. Rors could follow in their foot steps as foreign born players to carry the torch. He has more power than GN and more charisma then Faldo.

 

[dpgator33]

I think the only guy who has the talent is Dustin Johnson. I mean, Rory is as better, but I agree that it would likely be an American to do it. Too bad DJ is where he is now, but at the same time, there's nothing like a good comeback storyline to accelerate ones popularity. If DJ learns and comes off as remorseful, contrite, etc. he is still young enough to have a marvelous career.

As much as people "hate" him now, in relative terms, Tiger's transgressions are now mostly overlooked from a general marketability perspective, so I think DJ could easily as well if he were to come out next year and light it up, which he is more than capable of doing.

I don't know his story well enough to know if he has that in him, but from where I'm sitting, I don't see why it couldn't happen.

 

[jitzy]

So if you take skill out of the equation them you have to take away social media and everything else. That makes no sense. He entire thread has been based on their persona, skills and which would be a bigger a draw.

You like Rickie based on his social media savy not because he has shiwn the level of skill Rory has and that's cool. Social media has had nothing to do with any of the driving forces in golf. Golf has always been carried by skilled players. Arnie was the first to be uber popular but also had the skills to back it up. Take away the 'golf boys' and twitter, RF isn't even run of the mill. He's Kyle Stanley or Pat Perez, guys that we know can play and show up everything once and a while.

Norman carried the tour as a foreigner, Faldo was a draw. Rors could follow in their foot steps as foreign born players to carry the torch. He has more power than GN and more charisma then Faldo.

Norman had charisma, I don't think either of these 2 have the charisma Norman had. I know you wanna say social media has nothing to do with any driving forces in golf but you know it does. You just said it yourself take the golf boys out of the equation and who is Fowler (I do think he's a lot better than Perez and Stanly though) Look how huge Fowler is without winning, kids love him and he is bringing kids into the game, I'm sure Mclroy is too but I did see kids during the Open championship wearing Fowler outfits over there. You said golf has always been carried by skilled players and while your right and it always has been were sadly in a different world where social media is a dominant force in the way people look at pro athletes and even though he's not destroying the field every week like Rory he's dr wring some of the biggest crowds.

 

[Tadashi70]

Norman had charisma, I don't think either of these 2 have the charisma Norman had. I know you wanna say social media has nothing to do with any driving forces in golf but you know it does. You just said it yourself take the golf boys out of the equation and who is Fowler (I do think he's a lot better than Perez and Stanly though) Look how huge Fowler is without winning, kids love him and he is bringing kids into the game, I'm sure Mclroy is too but I did see kids during the Open championship wearing Fowler outfits over there. You said golf has always been carried by skilled players and while your right and it always has been were sadly in a different world where social media is a dominant force in the way people look at pro athletes and even though he's not destroying the field every week like Rory he's dr wring some of the biggest crowds.

I work in social media everyday and the fan base he has created is not enough to drive golf the way tiger has. Poulter has over a million follower, multiple clutch RC titles and multiple wins and could not carry the tour. How is a kid that get dogged for his mustache gonna carry the tour. Or the kid that folded down the stretch at Bayhill gonna carry the tour. He was slammed by this forum for that choke but all of a sudden he's gonna be the savior. I don't get it.

Norman had charisma, more than these two. Tiger brought more to the game then Norman how does Ricky bring it if he does match up to Norman.

 

[jitzy]

Then explain the draw of Fowler. Something is driving it.

 

[Smallville]

It took Tom Watson a while to learn how to win. He blew a lot of tournaments early on before he became The Man. I want to think that Fowler might follow a similar path.

 

[Sox_Fan]

I would say Fowler. One because he is American and two because of the style of his Cobra apparel.

 

[d_in_la]

So if you take skill out of the equation them you have to take away social media and everything else. That makes no sense. He entire thread has been based on their persona, skills and which would be a bigger a draw.

You like Rickie based on his social media savy not because he has shiwn the level of skill Rory has and that's cool. Social media has had nothing to do with any of the driving forces in golf. Golf has always been carried by skilled players. Arnie was the first to be uber popular but also had the skills to back it up. Take away the 'golf boys' and twitter, RF isn't even run of the mill. He's Kyle Stanley or Pat Perez, guys that we know can play and show up everything once and a while.

Norman carried the tour as a foreigner, Faldo was a draw. Rors could follow in their foot steps as foreign born players to carry the torch. He has more power than GN and more charisma then Faldo.

Freddie, Can you elaborate, what do you see as being better for the game? I would suggest that in today's day and age, winning or skills isn't enough, but that is where it truly starts.

I think Rickie has a bigger general mainstream upside than Rory does - and I'm all in on Rory. I believe that when kids look at those two dudes, they see Rickie and they see themselves. Kinda skaterish, x-gamey, fresh, fun, etc. Rory is decidedly old school (dare I say, Tiger-like). And yes, I believe that Rickie thing holds up internationally, but I'll let others from abroad tell me I'm wrong.

And just to throw in my giant caveat: ALL THINGS (SKILLS/WINS/MAJORS) BEING EQUAL ... which they aren't, and why I think Rory is the guy.

 

[Tadashi70]

Freddie, Can you elaborate, what do you see as being better for the game? I would suggest that in today's day and age, winning or skills isn't enough, but that is where it truly starts.

I think Rickie has a bigger general mainstream upside than Rory does - and I'm all in on Rory. I believe that when kids look at those two dudes, they see Rickie and they see themselves. Kinda skaterish, x-gamey, fresh, fun, etc. Rory is decidedly old school (dare I say, Tiger-like). And yes, I believe that Rickie thing holds up internationally, but I'll let others from abroad tell me I'm wrong.

And just to throw in my giant caveat: ALL THINGS (SKILLS/WINS/MAJORS) BEING EQUAL ... which they aren't, and why I think Rory is the guy.

People don't care about anything but winning or the chance of winning. That's why tiger still stops the planet when he arrives. Cleveland excepted LBJ back with open arms for a title. Kobe allegedly sexually assaulted a young women and it welcomed back. People want to be associated with a winner. That's Rory by a land slide.

Rickie has the kids vote but how many of these kids will be interested when he doesn't win. How many are just into golf and not other sports.? That alone will loose fans for him. The people that pay to play golf, buy memberships aren't kids. The draw of rickie isn't lasting in my opinion.

 

[jitzy]

People don't care about anything but winning or the chance of winning. That's why tiger still stops the planet when he arrives. Cleveland excepted LBJ back with open arms for a title. Kobe allegedly sexually assaulted a young women and it welcomed back. People want to be associated with a winner. That's Rory by a land slide.

Rickie has the kids vote but how many of these kids will be interested when he doesn't win. How many are just into golf and not other sports.? That alone will loose fans for him. The people that pay to play golf, buy memberships aren't kids. The draw of rickie isn't lasting in my opinion.

You may just be right about that in real life, BUT the OP uses a fictional scenario that makes Ricky or Rory as good as Tiger and if that where actually the case his draw wouldn't fade. Remember your looking at them now and their real potential not JB's made up potential.

 

[Ballsohard]

People don't care about anything but winning or the chance of winning. That's why tiger still stops the planet when he arrives. Cleveland excepted LBJ back with open arms for a title. Kobe allegedly sexually assaulted a young women and it welcomed back. People want to be associated with a winner. That's Rory by a land slide.

Rickie has the kids vote but how many of these kids will be interested when he doesn't win. How many are just into golf and not other sports.? That alone will loose fans for him. The people that pay to play golf, buy memberships aren't kids. The draw of rickie isn't lasting in my opinion.

And maybe that's professional golf's issue. The sport doesn't appeal or want to appeal to the casual watcher; just the country club folk which is slowly a dying breed in the country.

 

[Tadashi70]

And maybe that's professional golf's issue. The sport doesn't appeal or want to appeal to the casual watcher; just the country club folk which is slowly a dying breed in the country.

There are more casual golfers then there are country club types. Tiger broke down that barrier years ago.

 

[Ballsohard]

There are more casual golfers then there are country club types. Tiger broke down that barrier years ago.

It still doesn't appeal to the casual watcher. So, i'm starting to wonder if it appeals even to the casual golfer as much as it should. Also, why does it struggle to get the fan who doesn't play the sport unlike the NFL if the barriers are broken? It's an interesting thing for sure.

 

[Tadashi70]

It still doesn't appeal to the casual watcher. So, i'm starting to wonder if it appeals even to the casual golfer as much as it should. Also, why does it struggle to get the fan who doesn't play the sport unlike the NFL if the barriers are broken? It's an interesting thing for sure.

Why do ratings go up when tiger plays? The causal watcher. Golf will never compete with the nfl. No even in the same class

 

[checkered]

I really think both have the potential, it's just a matter of which can really get their game where it needs to be to win consistently. I think it helps for the casual spectator when they see the same person, or same couple of people winning often instead of seeing different people winning each week.

There's a ton of golfers out there on tour and when week to week random not necessarily well known guys win, the casual spectator can get kind of lost on who's playing and bored as they can't latch on to someone as their "guy" they root for. I think that's part of how Tiger still moves stuff because he dominated so long, he got that following. So, even the casual fans like to see him playing ,even if he's not winning now, and root for him because they latched on as a fan of *him* when he was dominating. Kind of like someone might root for their favorite football team even when they aren't doing well.

 

[BigTex]

People don't care about anything but winning or the chance of winning. That's why tiger still stops the planet when he arrives. Cleveland excepted LBJ back with open arms for a title. Kobe allegedly sexually assaulted a young women and it welcomed back. People want to be associated with a winner. That's Rory by a land slide.

Rickie has the kids vote but how many of these kids will be interested when he doesn't win. How many are just into golf and not other sports.? That alone will loose fans for him. The people that pay to play golf, buy memberships aren't kids. The draw of rickie isn't lasting in my opinion.

I would add to this, how much longer will Rickie appeal to the kids? Especially when it comes to how they dress and their other interest. What 14-15 year old will want to be like a 30 year old? Rickie has done a lot to draw kids into the game and is a great ambassador for it. Unfortunately, without winning it has a relatively short shelf life. Someone winning with dominance and flare is what golf needs long term.

 

[Vegan702]

I remember last year the media was all over Rory for his equipment change and poor performance. Don't remember much about Rickie from last year. I think he won a tournament last year, but can't remember if it was last year or year before.