Has Tiger Tainted Golf?

NOT TAINTED:
That Tiger Woods is the biggest draw in professional golf goes without saying. It’s no secret that when Woods plays, audiences – both at home and at the golf course – tune in and turn up. We knew this long before the words ‘fire hydrant’, ‘Ambien’ and ‘VIP hostess’ entered the golfing lexicon. But to suggest that golf itself has been tarred as a result of his (multiple) indiscretions is absurd. No one man is bigger than the game, even if that man happens to be the greatest player that ever lived.
Make no mistake, Tiger’s reputation lies in tatters. Portrayed as the family guy who liked nothing more than to spend his off-course time in his Florida mansion with his beautiful wife, two gorgeous children and dogs, Taz and Yogie, Woods’ ‘holier than thou’ existence seemed, even by a professional golfer’s standards, so mundanely serene, so… well, so dreary. He himself claimed as much on his website a few weeks before that infamous Thanksgiving evening, saying, “I think Elin and I have avoided a lot of media attention because we're kind of boring. When we do go out, we like to go to the movies. When we go for dinner, it's usually at the same few restaurants. Mostly, people are very nice and just want to say hi. There are a lot of evenings we'll just rent a movie and stay at home.”
This is why the whole sordid story has received the coverage it has. Woods is certainly not the first notable golfer to have committed infidelity – and, statistically speaking, he probably won’t be the last. But why should the fact that he – and his entourage – claimed to be someone he’s not in any way tarnish the reputation of the sport in which he excels?
It’s true that there have been a lot of gloomy predictions about the impact the scandal and his self-imposed hiatus will have on the game – and impact there undoubtedly will be. But perhaps it won’t be as bad as one might imagine. TV ratings when Tiger doesn’t play – as we saw when he missed the second half of the 2008 season through injury – drop markedly, and as a result networks suffer through a reduction in the amount advertisers are willing to shell out. But that’s only TV – and the likely trickledown effects of that – and only if Tiger gives up the game entirely (an unlikely scenario) – would only impact upon the professional game. The more important questions to ask are: will weekend hackers stop buying the latest equipment? Will chums stop going away for overseas golf trips? Will the other 99.6 percent of golfers who play as amateurs give up the game altogether? The answer, according to marketing experts, is a definite no.
“Tiger doesn't affect rounds played,” says Tom Stine, a co-founder of Golf Datatech, a market research firm. “The average player doesn't care if Tiger's playing. They'll play golf no matter what.” Stine, whose company provides research to most equipment makers, also predicted that Tiger's absence won't have a major impact on the golf equipment industry as a whole. “People don't give up an obsession because of one person.”
In fact, the case could be argued that Tiger’s off-course shenanigans are less of a turn off to most lovers of the game than his actual on-course antics. Let’s face it, when he’s not firing on all cylinders, Tiger surely ranks up there among the most petulant players in history. The club-throwing, the cursing, the tongue-lashing he’s given photographers over the years – there’s little wonder why he’s purported to be the most-fined golfer on the PGA Tour. That, more than anything he’s done on his own time away from the course, makes him less than the ideal role model.
The intriguing situation that we now face – and by ‘we’ I mean the media, the fans and indeed anyone associated with the game – is that Tiger, indirectly or directly, now has the ability to make golf more exciting than it has ever been. When Tiger was at the top of his game, winning majors left right and centre, it made for compelling viewing. But by the same token, there was always the feeling that his opponents – until YE Yang, that is – lacked the self belief to really look him in the eyes and take him on. It was if they really did think he was the Messiah, that he was unbeatable, that everyone other player was playing a supporting role in the golf show that was Tiger Woods.
Well, the aura that he used so effectively has well and truly gone and you can bet that his closest pursuers – the likes of Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim and Lee Westwood – are relishing his return.
Regardless of what happens in his personal life – and it would be wrong for this writer to voice any opinion – the hope is that he returns at the earliest opportunity, and if that means we have to endure a Tiger heart-to-heart with Oprah then so be it. With the Masters only two months away, what golf wants is a focused and refreshed – and dare I say it, a more humble – Woods gunning for Jack Nicklaus’ haul of 18 majors with the next generation of stars embracing the opportunity to usurp his number one status. You never know, we could be heading into the most interesting era championship golf has ever seen. - A.J.