Who are the tour stars?

Tadashi70

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We are having a little convo in the Dell Match play thread about Tour stars and the PGAs lack of effort to build more stars. There are good arguments for wins making stars or marketing making a star.

I want to hear from you. Who are the tours stars and why?

Rickie is a star first due to his persona and now wins
Bubba is a star
Adam
Tiger
Phil
Keegan
Dufner
Kuch
Walker
Day
Spieth
Reed
Els

This just a few that came to mind. Who are stars to you?
 
I'd shorten the list a little and base it on gallery size?

Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler
Bubba Watson
Adam Scott
Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
Dustin Johnson
Jason Day
Jordan Spieth
 
Just doing off of your list. I'm removing the following names.

Keegan
Dufner
Walker
Reed
Els
Kuchar

The reason for that is because I don't think any of them move the needle enough to promote an event around their presence. Else back in the day, but not anymore. I think Dufner and Keegan had those chances and their star has dimmed.

I will go with these names for right now.
Fowler
Rory
Bubba
Phil
Tiger
Day
Spieth
Sergio
DJ
 
Boo Weekly :banana: lol

I alway love seeing him the field.
 
I think the list of stars is also dependent on whether you are talking about die hard golf fans, or whether it's just sports fans in general. I think the number of non-golf fans who know of Tiger, Rory, Rickie, and Phil is going to FAR outnumber the non-golf fans who know Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, or Matt Kuchar.
 
Fowler
Rory
Bubba
Phil
Tiger
Day
Spieth
Sergio
DJ

As Ddec said. I think these guys move the needle and have the crowds that follow and they all have great stories with them

 
when i think "stars" i think people who are recognizable the most casual of fans. so i'll say:

rickie- and this is probably just barely. when he's decked out people know who he is, but lose all that skater golf gear and i think the general masses probably wouldn't recognize him.

bubba- again, just barely, and probably for the wrong reasons.

phil- i think he's one of the bigger stars.

rory- probably the biggest active star if we take last year out of the picture.

jordan- coming on strong, but he needs to win a little bit more because he's not flashy enough to make people pay attention without the Ws.

tiger- the biggest star and i don't think it's that close.

j day- maybe. i could go either way on this. if he's not a star, he's really close.
 
Fowler
Mcilroy
Spieth
day
DJ
Phil
Tiger
Sergio
Bubba
Poulter
 
To me,

Jordan
Rory
Day
Bubba
Fowler
DJ
Phil
Tiger (somehow still)

Those are the guys that when they are near the top on Saturday, golf is good. There are a lot of create players, but I am not sitting on the couch to watch Jimmy Walker and Keegan Bradley carry a leaderboard. I know it sounds rough, but it's true.
 
Sergio is a tour star? Maybe in the past but no longer. Just a guy that never realized his potential...IMO
 
Sergio is a tour star? Maybe in the past but no longer. Just a guy that never realized his potential...IMO

global tour star for me. More of a star than Dufner, Keegan, Walker.
 
global tour star for me. More of a star than Dufner, Keegan, Walker.

Completely agree, I always forget we share the global with other? Lol
 
I think the majority of regular golf fans think of these names as the stars:

Tiger

Phil

Rors

Fowler

Speith

Bubba (maybe - mostly because of his unusual antics)



This list would be much different if it was comprised of THPers or golfers who were more than casual followers. Unfortunately, it seems like the PGA wants to cater to the casual fan.

I still remember the time watching a tournament a few years ago when Rors was lighting the world on fire, but the NBC/Golf Channel coverage showed every shot of Tiger (who struggled to break 80).


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Rory
Jordan
Bubba
J. Day
Fowler
Phil
Tiger

I think all of those guys move the needle and get people to come watch an event more than most. They are you're headliners for sure.
 
I think there's two categories to this. The first being the guys that are recognizable to the casual sports fan. I think that list includes:
Tiger
Phil
Rory
Spieth
Bubba
Fowler
I think guys like Day, Scott, and DJ are in the second tier and are stars in the mind of avid golf fans but not so much in the eyes of the casual sports fan.
 
In comparison, I think the people who follow golf week to week would include the following as stars:

Day

Scott

Bubba (definitely)

DJ

Sergio

Poults

Maybe throw in a Reed and/or a Walker.



Even for a guy like Jason Day, who's been playing at an incredible level for the last year plus, most casual fans probably know him as the guy who fainted at the US Open, if at all.

And that's just because NBC wouldn't shut up about the dizzy spells he was having afterwards.


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Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler
Adam Scott
Phil Mickelson
Dustin Johnson
Jason Day
Jordan Spieth
 
Tiger, Phil, Spieth, and McIlroy are tour stars who don't need any justification. Scott is on their heels. Bubba, Fowler, DJ, and Day are on the threshold. Fowler gets the hip personality boost. Bubba gets the odd personality boost. DJ gets the badboy and famous girlfriend/wife boost. Day gets the sympathy boost. But all of the 2nd group need more big wins to build their star narrative.
 
Day
Spieth
Fowler
Scott
Bubba
Rory
 
Reading this really shows how good the game is now, it has a great future.

Day
Rory
Spieth
Fowler
Bubba
Adam
Chappell's going to have a great future, I like his game a lot, he reminds me of a young Duval without the pretty swing.
 
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As many have mentioned quite a few can be removed from original posters list. They just don't draw the excitement or gallery sizes anymore. Names that could have been huge but have never been able to sustain success.

My list is short...

Rory
Day
Spieth
Phil
Bubba
Tiger - still
Fowler
 
I think the number is still fairly small. There are attempts to get some traction on smaller names, but they either don't post wins, don't post big finishes in majors, or don't have the sort of marquee sponsorship with a specific brand where they get a lot of momentum. Rickie is a good example of the last point; even before he was posting wins he was the face of Cobra/Puma, which goes a long way towards helping his star power. So there's a handful of dudes, like Reed, Walker, Kuch (marquee dude for companies that don't really advertise him like a star...doesn't help that stardom doesn't match his personality)...heck, I could probably include Zach Johnson in this category, despite two huge major wins, though if PXG really put some effort into advertising, he could kinda get there where he's instantly recognized as the face of the company.

So with my sort of tighter definition of "star," I'd say right now it's Rickie, Rory, Dustin, Day, Jordan, Phil (until someone from Callaway really breaks from the pack and justifies lots of advertising space), and Bubba. To me, those are the guys who meet the intersection of advertising by their companies, disposition, and performance and charisma on the course to really constitute being stars.
 
I'd shorten the list a little and base it on gallery size?

Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler
Bubba Watson
Adam Scott
Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
Dustin Johnson
Jason Day
Jordan Spieth


This list is about as accurate as it comes
 
I agree on a few but will we ever see a tiger or a Phil again I highly doubt it and I have never been a big tiger fan but give him his due on what he has done for the game. Phil on the other hand in my opinion is what new tour guys should aspire to be like a true gentleman of the game and in life
 
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