Good Read

[fisher]

PGA Fallen: Tiger Woods Has Placed Golf in the Sand Trap


By John Neuman
<!-- "article_573747_author_rank" cached 01/16/2011 at 07:53 PM -->(Correspondent) on January 15, 2011



525 reads
0 comments
0 likes

<?xml:namespace prefix = fb ns = "http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml" /><fb:like class=" fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" width="310" show_faces="false" layout="standard" href="http%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F573747-pga-fallen-tiger-woods-has-placed-golf-in-the-sand-trap" ref="article_top"><IFRAME style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 310px; HEIGHT: 22px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=f24fa6b58c58218 class=fb_ltr title="Like this content on Facebook." onload=FB.Content._callbacks.f2ef513d06c1c18() src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?api_key=4c0fbc1c3c59f3d3808a5d308760a360&channel_url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fconnect%2Fxd_proxy.php%23cb%3Df2216c1119db618%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fbleacherreport.com%252Ffc2e16d270599%26relation%3Dparent.parent%26transport%3Dflash&href=http%253A%252F%252Fbleacherreport.com%252Farticles%252F573747-pga-fallen-tiger-woods-has-placed-golf-in-the-sand-trap&layout=standard&locale=en_US&node_type=link&ref=article_top&sdk=joey&show_faces=false&width=310" frameBorder=0 allowTransparency name=f3c85c8827a625 scrolling=no></IFRAME></fb:like>

<!-- "article_573747_body" cached 01/16/2011 at 09:46 PM -->

Robert Cianflone/Getty Images When Tiger Woods' Black Cadillac SUV slammed into the tree, it not only spelled the end of Tiger’s marriage, but also the potential end of golf for mainstream viewers.
Golf now looks to avoid going down the same path as boxing did when they could no longer book matches with the names of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
One could argue that no other sport has one athlete meant so much to, other than Woods' presence in Golf. But it’s not only his presence, it was his ability to dominate the game.
While some may argue that Michael Jordan had the same impact on the NBA, when he left, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan collectively filled the void, and the league cracked a record cable deal with ESPN and TNT. Not to mention the ESPN sports machine pumping NBA highlights on Sportscenter for half of the day.
Golf doesn’t have this type of exposure.
When Tiger Woods took his “leave of absence,” it was kind of like the sport was a balloon that someone jammed a needle into in the middle of the night. His temporary departure caused a lot of talk in the Golf world, keeping the sport in the limelight even if it was in light of a negative situation.
However, Tiger Woods has yet to rebuild his image—he has yet to even come close.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Nobody is warming up to Tiger Woods after his “transgressions.” It’s as if his quality of perfection that his character brought to the game was tied to his spectacular performances.
LeBron James has a much better chance of rebuilding his fan base than Tiger Woods.
Woods attracted a different type of crowd. He attracted not only the upper elites and businessmen who watch golf, but he also attracted the average fan. Many of his fans were attached to Tiger’s former squeaky-clean image and his likeness to not involve himself with any wrongdoings.
With this image tarnished, he has yet to draw back the people who looked so highly upon him because of his top-notch game and character.
While nobody will ever be able to question the pure greatness of Tiger Woods and his 14 majors, if he doesn’t end up at the top of the food chain again, golf may end up as an alternative for poker and bowling for weekend TV watchers.
By the way, who is Lee Westwood?

I love the last line.

 

[Esox]

Golf popularity and high purses were a bubble built on the unreasonable expectation that Tiger was perfect and would keep people interested in the Tour. Much like the nation's real estate markets were a bubble built on the idea that values would always continue to rise. Lenders and investors refused to believe there was any risk.

Like the real estate markets, the Tour bubble probably needs to burst and bring purses back to more realistic levels. I hope, and expect, that Tiger will never play with near the same dominance. The deterioration of his game is probably a combination of mental issues associated with his fall, the loss of his putting stroke, the arrival on the scene of some of these young long hitters, and his overall doucheyness.

Good for the game in the long run.

Kevin

 

[wirehair]

HUH? I don't get it, who is this guy and what's his point?

 

[TheTrueReview]

I love the last line.

It should be "Who is John Neuman?". Answer = A nobody.

 

[xamilo]

Even though I think we will be having a very exciting year in golf, I really do think the market will be having an even harder year in 2011. Even in this forum, there's been time since I don't read a thread about anybody getting any new club, and the "What did you get for Xmas" thread was much much shorter than last year's. If the obssesed with golf people like you guys aren't getting anything, what can the golf market expect from the rest of the people?

 

[fisher]

Even though I think we will be having a very exciting year in golf, I really do think the market will be having an even harder year in 2011. Even in this forum, there's been time since I don't read a thread about anybody getting any new club, and the "What did you get for Xmas" thread was much much shorter than last year's. If the obssesed with golf people like you guys aren't getting anything, what can the golf market expect from the rest of the people?

Exactly!!!!!

 

[BigJim13]

I love the game, I just don't have the time, money or energy to devote my life to it like it is a religion. And while there are at least 8-10 "hot" young players that are supposed to bring competition to the game, it's not the same. I don't see any of them being as great or as dominant as Tiger was. Maybe I'm wrong in this, but I don't see any one of them winning more than 2-3 majors and that seems like a stretch to me.

Maybe it was a bubble, a Tiger bubble, and I think it has popped as Esox said above. That was a pretty good run though, 12+ yrs keeping golf in the mainstream media.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

This thread is depressing. What's with all the gloom and doom? The Tour, even without Tiger, is a lot more exciting than it was before Tiger, IMO. Besides, Tiger is not done, hate him or not.

 

[TheTrueReview]

This thread is depressing. What's with all the gloom and doom? The Tour, even without Tiger, is a lot more exciting than it was before Tiger, IMO. Besides, Tiger is not done, hate him or not.

I think this wins the post of the year. Spot on. :thumbs up:

 

[fisher]

The fact that we are all here on a golf forum shows that we are the die hards. We will all be watching regardless. Its a lack of a draw for the casual golf fan that is going to crush tv golf. Its not just Tiger either as I believe Phil is fading away at the same time. Golf without interesting heros and villans isn't gonna fly with the viewing audience. This will have a negative domino effect from the manufacturers right on down to your local muni.

 

[xamilo]

The fact that we are all here on a golf forum shows that we are the die hards. We will all be watching regardless. Its a lack of a draw for the casual golf fan that is going to crush tv golf. Its not just Tiger either as I believe Phil is fading away at the same time. Golf without interesting heros and villans isn't gonna fly with the viewing audience. This will have a negative domino effect from the manufacturers right on down to your local muni.

Indeed. In smaller countries, Nike was one of the big "golf promotors". Why? well, there is a Nike store everywhere in the world, but even Callaway of Taylormade are not that easy to be found in smaller countries, or countries with less devotion to golf. Much less about smaller golf brands like Mizuno or Scratch.

While Tiger was on top, there was always publicity about the sport since Nike did so in their stores. Since he's no longer up there, they have chose to use their store "space" in people like Federer or Nadal, or stars from any other sport, limiting the "golfing" merchandise in some places.

Why should we care? Well, the less money the casual golfer spends in golf, the less people who pick up the sport, less money would be invested in R&D for example, and surely less equipment would be released everytime (which would be awesome for Taylormade). Taylormade, Callaway, PING, would have no problem and they will survive without even noticing a change, but smaller companies might have a hard time. No wonder Yes! Putters, and Nickent have gone bankrupted for example, and a lot more might follow if the pattern continues. At the end, this means less options for golfers who really are into the game....

Something similar happened with the NBA some years ago with Michael Jordan. You guys in the U.S. might have not noticed it, but overseas the change was massive. I remember when I was younger, the LOCAL NETWORK actually paid the rights for the NBA transmissions for example. I remember watching the Bulls beat the Sonics at my place, commentators in Spanish and all! You could find NBA Jerseys in every corner, and it was usual to hear people about their devotion to their "beloved" NBA team. Because Jordan made Barkley, Ewing, Malone, and everyone else to become bigger stars at the moment. After Jordan retired, there was NBA for maybe a year or so, and then never again. Nike used to have a whole section devoted to basketballs and basketball shoes, and now you find maybe a wall at most. My mother would ask "who the hell is LeBron James", but she knew perfectly well how Jordan looked like. Devotion might still be the same in America, I'm not sure, but overseas, the NBA has become as important as the Pakistany Cricket League

So even though I'm sure there is more competition now a days in the PGA tour than ever, and some players have shown to excel in every way possible, the combination of the falling idol and the economic troubles in the last couple of years might be bringing golf down much more than anticipated...

...and you know I don't like Tiggy at all, but reality is inevitable....

 

[BigJim13]

...and you know I don't like Tiggy at all, but reality is inevitable....

This is true, love him or hate him, you have to admit that he brought more people to the game than anybod in history save for maybe Arnie. He, overall, has been good for the game IMO. I know there are a bunch of haters but golf is less interesting to the masses without Tiger. Heck, golf is less interesting to me (a diehard) when Tiger isn't playing or playing well. I know we have some good young players but I don't see any of them filling the role of Tiger, nor should they be expected to.

My hope is that Tiger makes a comeback and we see flashes of 2000 again. It may be false hope but whatever. I have no real interest in watching guys I have never heard of win majors. Sorry if that sounds isolationist but how is it working for the LPGA?

 

[MCDavis]

I love the last line.

Like they say, opinions are like buttholes (Neuman's opinion)....

The girl holding the sign is cute.

 

[Fourputt]

This thread is depressing. What's with all the gloom and doom? The Tour, even without Tiger, is a lot more exciting than it was before Tiger, IMO. Besides, Tiger is not done, hate him or not.

I don't think that it is exciting for any but diehard golf fans. Back in the 70's and 80's Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were household names even for people on the fringes of the game. That is the sort of recognition that Tiger brought to the game when it was looking for a new icon, and it's what most of today's young guns simply do not have. Those same people if polled right now would say Dustin Who???? Rickey Fowler? And GMAC is/was an automobile loan company associated with General Motors. The average man on the street be hard pressed to name a single currently competitive professional golfer. That is what the Tour has lost with Tiger's shenanigans.

You don't see it because you are too close to the game. When you step back a few feet you see that the average person has lost the one slight connection he might have had to the game, and that was the recognition of Tiger Woods.

 

[BigJim13]

I don't think that it is exciting for any but diehard golf fans. Back in the 70's and 80's Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were household names even for people on the fringes of the game. That is the sort of recognition that Tiger brought to the game when it was looking for a new icon, and it's what most of today's young guns simply do not have. Those same people if polled right now would say Dustin Who???? Rickey Fowler? And GMAC is/was an automobile loan company associated with General Motors. The average man on the street be hard pressed to name a single currently competitive professional golfer. That is what the Tour has lost with Tiger's shenanigans.

You don't see it because you are too close to the game. When you step back a few feet you see that the average person has lost the one slight connection he might have had to the game, and that was the recognition of Tiger Woods.

Good post here!!

Think of it this way, when Tiger was at the height of his dominance, Sportscenter would lead with Tiger and the PGA Tour.

I watched Sportscenter this morning, who won at the Sony? I have no idea who won at Kapalua. Golf is back to being on par with bowling, horse racing-only when there is a major will it get primo attention!