Has golf become boring of late?

[phantomgolfer]

Has golf become boring of late, especially for television audience?
It is happening in Australia, maybe be in other places too… Tim McDonald sheds some light on the matter at travelgolf.com.
http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/clubhouse/golf-media-viewers-922.htm

He says…In Australia, there is no Tiger Woods, only the shadow of Greg Norman.
Unfortunately for Aussie golf, that means declining crowds at Down Under golf tournaments and plummeting television ratings. Things are getting so bad in Australia, Ian Johnson, station manager for Channel 7 in Melbourne said the station may not renew its coverage of the major Aussie golf tournaments.
The problem? No hard-charging Shark. When Norman faded from the scene, so did Aussie interest. Johnson said he agreed with the public perception that golfers nowadays are "boring" and "self-absorbed." The only people who want to watch today's tournaments in Australia are aging males.

 

[DaveE]

IMO golf is seriously lacking a personality at the moment. Because I am somewhat passionate about the game I tune in because I enjoy watching people with that much talent play the game.

If Tiger makes a significant statement this year and few of the others, (Els, Mickelson, etc.) step up we might see interest pick up. As huge as Vijays talent is, his personality will never make him a big crowd favorite.

Of course even if all of this happens it probably still won't help you much in Australia. Where to find another Shark?

 

[Bravo]

Yes - much of it is personality-driven. Norman was hugely popular across the globe and still is for that matter.

Veeg does not light anyone's fire - except on the course.

Something tells me that Phil is going to show some fireworks this year as well as Ernie and Sergio.

The Euros are playing on the USPGA in record numbers so I think we will have an interesting season before it is all over with.

 

[Rockford35]

He says…In Australia, there is no Tiger Woods, only the shadow of Greg Norman.
Unfortunately for Aussie golf, that means declining crowds at Down Under golf tournaments and plummeting television ratings. Things are getting so bad in Australia, Ian Johnson, station manager for Channel 7 in Melbourne said the station may not renew its coverage of the major Aussie golf tournaments.
The problem? No hard-charging Shark. When Norman faded from the scene, so did Aussie interest. Johnson said he agreed with the public perception that golfers nowadays are "boring" and "self-absorbed." The only people who want to watch today's tournaments in Australia are aging males.

What about Adam Scott, he is an Aussie, no? Aren't there any amateur golfers from Oz that are up and coming?

For me, I can take or leave Tiger Woods. If the spotlight wasn't on him during telecasts for 90% of the time, i'd be more entertained.

Vijay is old hat. The guy just wins. I love it. And Ernie is smooth. He screws up large once in a while, but he is still great to watch.

I'm still entertained, personally.

r35

 

[GoFlyers]

With Appleby, Allenby, Ogilvy, and the rest of the young Aussies on tour and there is no interest? When has there ever been such an Aussie explosion as there is currently? I would have thought the opposite to be true.

 

[Slingblade61]

I like watching Colin Montgomery snarling at the gallery....that's always amusing.

I also like that sweat hog, John Daly....with all the strife he has in his life it's a wonder he does as well as he does.

 

[The master]

I'm know Tiger wanabee or anything, but I have to admit since he hasn't been incontention and winning every week the golf has got worse, he was great for ratings and made it more excecting.

 

[Golfbum]

I'm know Tiger wanabee or anything, but I have to admit since he hasn't been incontention and winning every week the golf has got worse, he was great for ratings and made it more excecting.

Since Woods is not in contention weekly and the networks are not showing All Tiger every telecast I have become more interested in watching golf. Not everyone is a TIGER FAN OR A TIGER WANNABE!

 

[The master]

Since Woods is not in contention weekly and the networks are not showing All Tiger every telecast I have become more interested in watching golf. Not everyone is a TIGER FAN OR A TIGER WANNABE!

That's your opinion Tiger makes golf fun even when he plays bad. I don't like him but enjoy watching him a lot do.

 

[Rockford35]

Since Woods is not in contention weekly and the networks are not showing All Tiger every telecast I have become more interested in watching golf. Not everyone is a TIGER FAN OR A TIGER WANNABE!

Agreed, but in the last month or so, he has been up there. Good for him, shitty for us to watch "Tiger TV".

I watched the fog today at the Buick. Tiger was at -12, 3 behind the leader. They showed the highlights of his round three times inside 40 minutes. It kinda made me think of when Tiger was kicking everyone's ass a year ago and was only every single minute.

I also saw Duval. That guy is so NOT motivated. He should give the game up for a few years until he gets re-energized. He's married now, took care of his personal baggage, but he has no head for the game now. I think they said he shot +9 for the day on thursday and didn't even play Friday....

R35

 

[grazo]

Don't listen to what Ian Johnston says - the guy just doesn't want to pay top dollar for Golf coverage in Australia, and the fact that he says golf is boring is more a reflection of his network's coverage than on the game itself.

There has never been as many Aussies on the US tour as there is right now (21) so I can't see how there would be no ineterest...

Certainly no-one will be able to replace the Shark, and everyone is waiting for someone like Adam Scott to breakthrough in a major and when that happens golf will go "boom" down under. But the job of the Shark in championing golf in Australia should not fall to one man, it should fall on the shoulders of the 21 US tour players and the 15 (?) other players on the Euro tour.

As for up and coming youngsters... remember the name Jason Day - this kid is probably the world's best amateur right now and I think he is still only 17 so it will be a while before he takes the world stage, BUT you heard it here first.

There is no doubt that the Aussie tour could do with a big kick in the arse prizemoney-wise, but it's not all that bad - Ernie is coming to defend the Heinneken Classic next month at Royal Melbourne and other attendees will include Norman, Faldo, Monty, Scott, Appleby, Lonard, Allenby etc...

I'm hopin' to get me some autographs to add to the framed Golf Australia magazine cover with Adam Scott's picture and autograph I have hanging in my study...

:australia

 

[Golfbum]

Agreed, but in the last month or so, he has been up there. Good for him, shitty for us to watch "Tiger TV".

I watched the fog today at the Buick. Tiger was at -12, 3 behind the leader. They showed the highlights of his round three times inside 40 minutes. It kinda made me think of when Tiger was kicking everyone's ass a year ago and was only every single minute.

I also saw Duval. That guy is so NOT motivated. He should give the game up for a few years until he gets re-energized. He's married now, took care of his personal baggage, but he has no head for the game now. I think they said he shot +9 for the day on thursday and didn't even play Friday....

R35

Well since Woods has won again the tv coverage whenever he plays will be ALL WOODS AND THEN HERE IS SOME MORE OF WOODS. Thank God he is taking the next 3 tournaments off so at least we can watch some other golfers on the coverage of those events. Maybe we need a POLL on here to actually get the number of Woods fans. I for one am sick of seeing him all the time, whether he is winning or not. His caddy is a total ass who needs his ass kicked, Woods swears like a sailor, I wonder if the Tour fines him? Tosses clubs like toothpicks. Oh sure he was #1 for years, but he isn't now. As any Canadian will tell you, when Canadian Mike is in a tournament and near the top of the leader board we are lucky to even get a glimpse of him. Might see him making the odd putt but that's about it.
As for DD, you are right Rock, he seems to be in another world while on the course. Too bad, I always liked watching him play. Maybe he does need a longer break away from pro golf to totally recharge his batteries. After he started hitting the weight room his game went downhill. Hey maybe that is reason enough for us not to workout all winter! Look at Stads, he can still play
:canadafla

 

[Silver]

Well since Woods has won again the tv coverage whenever he plays will be ALL WOODS AND THEN HERE IS SOME MORE OF WOODS. Thank God he is taking the next 3 tournaments off so at least we can watch some other golfers on the coverage of those events. Maybe we need a POLL on here to actually get the number of Woods fans. I for one am sick of seeing him all the time, whether he is winning or not. His caddy is a total ass who needs his ass kicked, Woods swears like a sailor, I wonder if the Tour fines him? Tosses clubs like toothpicks. Oh sure he was #1 for years, but he isn't now. As any Canadian will tell you, when Canadian Mike is in a tournament and near the top of the leader board we are lucky to even get a glimpse of him. Might see him making the odd putt but that's about it.
As for DD, you are right Rock, he seems to be in another world while on the course. Too bad, I always liked watching him play. Maybe he does need a longer break away from pro golf to totally recharge his batteries. After he started hitting the weight room his game went downhill. Hey maybe that is reason enough for us not to workout all winter! Look at Stads, he can still play
:canadafla

As much as I like Mike and am aware they don't show a lot of him unless he's near the top (like everyone else), I disagree that when he's near the top he doesn't get much coverage. The Mercedes was basically the Mike Weir Show for Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed this tremendously, but I don't think he gets shafted just for being Canadian (which I know you didn't say, but that was the impression that I got).

As for the Tiger Show, I enjoy it. I find that Tiger has a lot of personality and is fun to watch, although watching him play badly is painful due to the swearing and what not (although I'm not against swearing, the internationally televised golf tournament probably isn't the place for it). I also don't think he really throws around that many clubs, he just drops them on occasion.

In any event, I like watching Tiger because when he's playing well, he's just flat out fun to watch. Most of the other guys are booooring when they're winning. The occasional smile is all you get. That's why I loved watching Shigeki taking the lead at the Sony - he's EXCITED to be winning. This makes for fun spectatorship.

That's why Tiger is shown all the time.