05_never_again
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Golf is fine without Tiger...from the perspective of people who really like golf and are going to watch it anyway, whether or not Tiger is involved (as I do and I assume you do).eh, i think there was a time a few years ago that was true. but Golf is as healthy as it's been in a very long time, w/ or w/out Tiger.
i think Tiger, at this point in time, being competitive, and winning only enhances it.
Tiger winning the masters......puts it over the top, no doubt.
but week to week, even when Tiger was not playing the past few years, still had some GREAT golf, and there is a bevy of young stars that are doing a good job of making it interesting.
if there is a problem, it's that every time someone wins a major, there are inevitably those in the media that start trying to figure out if that guy is the "next tiger", which isn't really fair. Rory, Brooks, Jordan...they've all been put under that micro scope.
and the reality is, the game is VERY competitive now at the top, because you have all those guys winning at a very high level. week in week out you get to watch DJ, Jordan, Patrick Ried, Koepka, Ricky, Justin Thomas, Dechambeau, Finau, Molinari and probably 4 or 5 others that can win basically any tournament they play in....and you still have some veterans that can win anything they play in....Justin, phil, Kuchar....then throw in the Euros that matter....Ousthauzen (sp lol?), Stenson...
now throw a resrugent Tiger on top of that....it's definitely GREAT for golf...but it wasn't necessary.....
what i will say is that Tiger winning Sunday was a great sports story in general. not just a golf story. Koepka winning Sunday wouldn't have generated the type of story that Tiger did. so don't mis understand, i do know how big it was. my only point is it wasn't necessary for golf to be good going forward.....
You are absolutely right that the game is extremely competitive and there are a number of young players who all can win any tournament they play in. If you like golf, those guys are exciting to watch. The problem is that they don't move the needle. I think the ratings bear out that if you aren't predisposed to watching golf, you don't find those guys all that exciting. They might have heard of Jordan Spieth, but they aren't familiar with those other guys you mentioned. Tiger had and still has an appeal to large numbers of people who wouldn't otherwise like golf. IMO, all sports need to have at least one figure who appeals to people "outside the tent" - i.e., has an appeal to people who otherwise wouldn't be interested in the sport.
The hold that the guy still has on the sport, even after all these years and a huge lull where he wasn't even an active player, is incredible.