I feel like I’m plagiarizing the following phrase, but the words have likely been repeated many times before me in the incredible number of keystrokes from professional journalists and amateur bloggers alike dedicated to the topic at hand. Yes, the PGA Tour got a glimpse of what ‘life without Tiger’ would be like and the results, predictably, were not pretty.
Even as a legitimately compelling story was emerging as Padraig Harrington won his second consecutive major championship at the ’08 PGA Championship, the absence of Tiger loomed large over the tournament as television ratings were about half of what they were the year prior when, of course, Tiger won. Moreover, they were down even further than that compared to the thrilling ’08 US Open, which (for a day) actually managed to draw more viewers than a simultaneously broadcast NBA finals game.
Granted, that was completely unheard of, and even Woods’ inevitable future major victories are unlikely to repeat that feat given the special drama that unfolded during that tournament between him and Rocco Mediate. But looking at the bigger picture, over the long months that Tiger was away from golf it became painfully obvious that, without him around, an amazingly few number of people care about the professional game.
Now, before I try to seemingly defend those bandwagoners, let me say that this is obviously not completely fair. All the golfers on the tour compete at an amazingly high level, and, regardless of whether or not Tiger plays, it truly is golf performed at its highest level.
That being said, I would rather go shoot in the 90s at that local course where the bunkers are really filled with dirt than sit around on a Sunday to wait and watch Zach Johnson lift a trophy. However, I have spent many a Sunday afternoon sitting on my couch transfixed on what Tiger Woods was doing on the TV screen.
I enjoy the sport of golf a great deal and, despite this confession, actually keep very informed on the Tour. But there is undoubtedly something to the old adage (really, let’s be honest here) that golf is not the most exciting sport to watch on TV. I encourage people to attend tournaments if they haven’t already done so, as the television really does no justice to just how good these guys are, but you couldn’t pay me to watch Thursday coverage of the RBC Canadian Open. It really just seems to be an inherent part of the game that its pace doesn’t translate well to television viewers more likely to sit down and watch Paul Pierce dunk over Kobe.
So how is Tiger Woods able to overcome this handicap?
The first thing he has going for him is the historical context of what he’s doing. Every victory is a part of something much larger, akin to the dominance of the early century Yankees or ‘90s Bulls, or the near perfection of the ’07 Patriots. Sports are always more compelling when there’s more on the line. And though fans seem to have an easier time attaching themselves to teams rather than individual-sport athletes, this doesn’t necessarily apply to individuals like Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, or Tiger whose triumphs have a greater importance in the history of their respective sports.
However, I don’t think this tells the whole story as to why Tiger is not only able to command a respectable TV viewership in general, but compete with the NBA finals for a day. More than just historical context, sports fans like to see events unfold with an ‘I don’t believe it’ appeal. Kirk Gibson’s famous game winning home run was only game one of the ’88 World Series, a series which wasn’t even particularly close, but the dramatic image of seeing Gibson, who could barely walk, beat one of the most dominating pitchers of his era in Dennis Eckersley, easily gets replayed more than Joe Carter’s game seven walkoff homer to win the ’93 series.
In short, Tiger just has a way of creating unparalleled drama.
Like Gibson, when fans tuned in to see whether or not to see Tiger could pull off his eventual US Open victory, a large part of that drama was provided by the fact the he, too, was completely hobbled. And while Tiger doesn’t play most tournaments using his driver as a cane, he does continually have a way of making the seemingly impossible happen.
The ’00 Pebble Beach Pro Am is remembered for Woods’ famous comeback from seven strokes down with seven to play -- including a hole-out eagle at 15 -- and the PGA that same year featured him making a 25 foot putt on the 72nd hole before beating journeyman Bob May (the original Rocco Mediate) in a three hole playoff; and these are just two examples from nearly a decade ago. One could also look at his most recent victory this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and his unnerving closing putt.
Granted it helps that by the time he’s done Tiger Woods will have smashed every career statistic the PGA Tour could possibly invent, but here’s guessing that if Woods weren’t around more weight would be on Phil Mickelson’s shoulders in terms of comparing him to the all time greats, even if he weren’t the very greatest, as Tiger will likely be considered. Celebrity in sports is easily manufactured by being successful compared to your peers.
However, while guys like Mickelson and Harrington have shown they are capable of winning, they have not shown the some flair for golf theater that Tiger has been able to produce. At the US Open, most golfers professed that they would have withdrawn from the tournament if they were in the kind of pain Woods appeared to be in. Tiger didn’t withdraw, he won the damn thing.
The real problem with the marketability with golf can be overcome. However, none of the current crop of Tiger’s supporting cast has shown the ability to create a truly great moment when he’s not there. Luckily for us, Tiger should be around for quite a while to provide those moments. But let's hope, for the good of the sport, that, when Tiger does leave us, his successors have at least a fraction of his knack for drama.
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