The State of Tiger Woods

It's time for a check in on my take on the state of Tiger Woods. When he first came up, I enjoyed watching him knock off one big-name player after another; DLIII, Els, Singh. It was like he was showing that professional golf had become just another realm of well-funded complacency. TW's reordering of the possible was compelling. I didn't care if he beat Jack's record. Records are made to be broken. As long as he simply set the bar high and identified the pretenders, I was happy to watch the show.

But, when he really became a brand I started to sour. My feelings were nothing more than a manifest disinclination away from the anointed and the corporately established. It's not just Woods...I have hard time warming up to players like Rickie Fowler once their self-brand building grows beyond my comfort level. That's why I love guys like Mark Wilson. Ping player, sure, but just a regular guy playing golf for a buck.

I am amused when some speak of the boring sea of PGA khaki that is cured by the brightly colored hues of the Woods and Fowlers of the tour. Well, golf is a pretty dull game for most people and the idea of watching it on TV about as compelling as waiting in line at the DMV. My father (who played golf from the 1930s until his death in 2009) always marveled that people would watch golf on TV. For him, golf was a game to be played, not watched. But, I digress...

What really earned my ire was Earl Woods' contention that Tiger Woods would transcend golf. Tiger Woods father went so far as to say, "Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity." I could see how he could, but didn't think he would. I read an interview with Martha Burk wherein she contended that Nike was all ready with a series of commercials calling Augusta to task over their failure to admit women. All Woods had to do was join the fight and show up at the studio.

Not Woods...too controversial. Might take attention away from golf; bad for business, for sure. I grant he had no duty to go along. Heck, he may not even have believed in the cause, but in the end it was a chance to lead but one he declined. It was easy for him to pay homage to Charlie Sifford since the controversy surrounding race and the PGA Tour was settled before TW was born. No one's going to be looking for Woods to lead at anything these days except making money and winning trophies.

Let's see if he can still do that.

Tiger's Wall

Remember when Tiger first came on tour?

One by one he knocked off Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson.

With each conquest, the wall got a little taller.

Things are clearly going the other way and I am wondering if the up and comers will feel the effect of Tiger's wall at all?

Tiger must now see himself as the kind of player who could seemingly rush his putt on a final green because of the buzz at the back of the green surrounding the winner.

Tiger must now see himself as the kind of player whose main line of defense (his caddie) is buds with his closest competitor.

Tiger, the guy who always said it's all about majors, must now see himself as the kind of player who corrects a post-round interviewer by saying that he won this year, and the win he's talking about was the Chevron.

If Tiger was to remain merely one of the best players on tour, things will change even more. For now, he's still the draw; the single biggest determinant to ratings and ticket sales and he knows it.

What would it be like for him to be just another really good player after 15 years of being the one?

Why the European Tour is Second Best

It's simple. Money.

At last week's Africa Open, the winner took home €158,500...in USD that's only $210,638.

The winner of the Sony Open just the next week took home $990,000.

Now, if you had the game where would you be playing?

But there's more to this: Because of their amazing endorsement deals, Euros like Rory and Luke Donald can show their loyalty to the Euro Tour and still cash in over the course of the season.

Of course, it can play the other way since players like El Tigre & John Daly can make the Euro Tour's comparatively feeble money work for them because of the nice appearance fees they command.

If you take out the top five Euros, the Euro Tour's depth would be pretty much like the Nationwide Tour's. And, if you go down about 5 spots in the money, the 5th place check in a Euro Tour Event is just about the same as the winner's check on the Nationwide.

Actually, 5th on the Euro Tour will usually be quite a bit less...

Take away endorsement money and there'd be nothing left of the Euro Tour because all the players who could would be over here playing the US Tour full time. I'm sure some will do the knee-jerk thing and see this as a typical Euro Bash. It's really not. I actually like the top tier Euros better than most of the top tier players in the US. For me, they have a tad more style, for lack of a better word. It's just their home tour that sucks.

As is so often the case, just follow the money.