We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Golf... Without Tiger?

War Eagle

War Eagle

the Beags of THP...
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
106,861
Reaction score
19,206
Location
SARASOTA, FL
Handicap
Rum
Like him or not, many believe that Tiger put Golf back on the "map." Be it from having bigger crowd draws or increasing prize money for the tournaments. Tiger and his dominance were so prominent over the years, that many put the two hand in hand; Professional Golf & Tiger Woods.

Do you think without the Tiger Woods era that Golf would be where it's at currently?
 
War Eagle said:
Like him or not, many believe that Tiger put Golf back on the "map." Be it from having bigger crowd draws or increasing prize money for the tournaments. Tiger and his dominance were so prominent over the years, that many put the two hand in hand; Professional Golf & Tiger Woods.

Do you think without the Tiger Woods era that Golf would be where it's at currently?
Click to expand...

Nope, not even close. While I dont think it would be like boxing which has fallen off the map, it would not be near what it is today. Dude just moves the needle plain and simple
 
Absolutely not!
 
No, but he is the last reason I'm a huge golf fan.
 
no he made the sport to be more "cool" to golf. i dont think golf had that appeal before him.
 
Not even close. There are some great players out there, and there were some great players for the last 15 years or so, but none with the gravitas of Tiger.
 
Not even close is right.

Hell, I'd argue that Phil wouldn't even be the Phil that we know today. He really developed into the "anti-Tiger" in a lot of people's eyes
 
No, but mostly from a player performance stand point. Tiger is a pivot point from old gaurd to new. These new players came up with tiger as the target so the bar was set higher. Now tiger's length advantage is pretty much negated.

sent without the boss's knowledge...
 
I'm not sure I would be golfing if it wasn't for Tiger and I'm sure there are a lot like myself.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
I don't think it would be where it is today but I do think it would be bigger than it was in the 80s and 90s.
 
It is hard to overstate Tiger's impact on the game which also corresponded with a period of economic prosperity. I was involved in golf from the business side and also in junior golf and the growth in both as Tiger burst on the scene was amazing. In our junior golf program we went from 65-70 youth to almost 200 in a two year period as just one example.
 
Nope. I wouldn't be a golfer and I believe much of today's awesome talent wouldn't be on tour without TW's impact on the game either.
 
Golf would not be where it is without Tiger, and I wonder honestly where it will go once he fades out (some would argue it's already starting). I think the American sports fan at least responds to a dominant force (most noticeably when it is an American) in whatever sport, and if that isn't present, the attention paid to the sport wanes.
 
No. No way. More people have watched tournaments on TV over his years JUST because he was in contention on Sunday. He brought many to the game and has made a LOT of money for the other Pros on Tour! Purses would be nowhere near what they are now without him! Sponsorships would be more difficult to find!

No, golf would be very different if it weren't for Tiger...
 
We'd be talking about Ernie Els being the best player in our generation with 6 Majors?
 
adwillingham said:
Golf would not be where it is without Tiger, and I wonder honestly where it will go once he fades out (some would argue it's already starting). I think the American sports fan at least responds to a dominant force (most noticeably when it is an American) in whatever sport, and if that isn't present, the attention paid to the sport wanes.
Click to expand...

my thoughts as well. I think they're doing a better job these days but for a few years the pga was 24/7 Tiger. They really need to hype up the other guys or they'll be in a heap of trouble when tiger hangs it up. I understand the short term gains by riding the back of tiger but I'd also like to see a more long term plan.
 
rrkman said:
my thoughts as well. I think they're doing a better job these days but for a few years the pga was 24/7 Tiger. They really need to hype up the other guys or they'll be in a heap of trouble when tiger hangs it up. I understand the short term gains by riding the back of tiger but I'd also like to see a more long term plan.
Click to expand...

Not to turn this into a more generalized discussion, but I fear you can look at the way casual interest in professional tennis has gone in the post-Agassi and Sampras era and draw future parallels to a golf world that doesn't have an American megastar.
 
No, but there's also a fair amount of other things that happened to be going on while Tiger was dominant. Sports-specific networks, economic prosperity, technological advances in golf equipment, heck, even something as simple as digital cable and high definition television made golf easier than ever to watch. And during the streak of years while all of these things were happening, Tiger could walk in and say, "Who's coming in second?" The monetary influx into the tour was great for everyone, and accelerated a lot of those changes on the golf side of the industry in terms of making equipment better.
 
The ability bar has been set so high by Tiger. Players saw a different way to play courses because of Tiger. If that makes sense.

I go back to YE Yang's hybrid on the 18th at the 09 PGA. I honestly don't believe that shot happens without Tiger's sheer presence making YE go for it.
 
Not even close....Tiger made golf cool to my generation. I already was playing, but my non-golfer friends started picking up clubs because they started hearing about him. He also brought Nike into a big player in golf apparel and equipment, and as a result open some doors as far a golf apparel is concerned.
 
I remember playing golf before Tiger hit and we had no real problems in NY getting off on a course within 15 - 20 mins after showing up, after Tiger we would wait well over an hour or two to tee off. Like him or not he changed the sport for everyone.
 
If not for Tiger I doubt 'The Golf Channel" even exists and there would be thousands fewer golfers out there.
 
Since I only recently started golfing, Tiger didn't influence me to pick up the sport. However, from the outside looking in over the last two decades, it really was Tiger Woods which kept golf at least on the periphery for me. He WAS golf for the longest time and I think that without his presence, golf would not be what it is today.
 
I feel like it is similar to Jordan and the NBA. Sure it was around before him, but he modernized the game into what it is today. Tiger did the same thing to golf. There will be somewhat of a void in the post Tiger golf world - it may have already started. Hopefully Tiger hasn't started into the Washington Wizards section of his career.....
 
War Eagle said:
Do you think without the Tiger Woods era that Golf would be where it's at currently?
Click to expand...
Of course not. And on top of it all, the prize money would be not a whole lot higher than it was in 1996, before he busted out. But they still showed tournaments on TV before Tiger, and with the Golf Channel there would still be more tournament coverage. (Although one could argue that the Golf Channel might not have survived without the additional popularity caused by Woods)

We were even doing Fantasy Golf before Tiger came onto the scene. Golf would have survived just fine without him. And maybe, because the purses would would not have increased so much, it would be more competitive because guys would still be trying to do more than make cuts and cash checks. (Top 100 make a million a year)

Tiger did a lot for golf. Still does, actually. But without him, it wasn't going anywhere. But maybe some of the tournaments that are struggling (comparatively speaking) would be doing better since with smaller purses, more guys would likely be playing more tournaments.

People played golf before Tiger. He did bring a bunch to the game for sure. But people still played, and people would still be playing and starting to play today.

It would be a completely different landscape today though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top