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Tigerless
When I recently wrote, “A tournament without Tiger is like a day without sunshine,” little did I realize that he would turn the sun off so soon.
To a non golfer, watching golf on TV can be as exciting as watching grass grow. In the many years preceding TV we have had great golfers in different time periods. As a rule there was a group at the same time, for example: Hagen, Jones, and Sarazen; followed by Hogan, Snead and Nelson. Unless you were a spectator at their events, the public did not have the so-called relationship with the players as they do today with TV.
Television, with the help of Arnold Palmer, changed all of that. It was not long before Arnold, with his flamboyant personality and manner of playing, had vitalized golf with the non-golfing public. Along with Palmer, came Nicklaus, Player, Watson, Norman, and a host of others. Although Palmer was the “Poster Boy” of the media, records and tournaments were set and won by others.
Then along came Tiger.
It was not long before Tiger created new excitement. His great talent, charisma and his ability to make impossible shots possible soon made him the main attraction. It has continued for nearly a decade and has helped bring golf to a higher level in the eyes of the public. Tiger is probably the most recognized sports figure in the world today. He has helped make the PGA, and golf, able to contribute more to charities than all other sports combined.
Golf now has a problem. Tiger had been cutting down on appearances, and now we don’t know how long he will be out of action. In the meantime golf has to find, or create, some outstanding replacements. Phil, VJ, and Ernie, are fine golfers, but they walk around the golf course as if they were behind a plow. Right now, if you took those 5 wedges out of Phil’s bag, he would not break 80. VJ has decided to change the swing he was winning with, and Ernie is spending too much time with a Sports Psychologist. The majority of the younger players seem too engrossed in their (mental) 3 part routines, to be able establish any kind of personal identification.
Tiger’s appearance at a tournament drew in millions of more dollars, not only in spectator fees, but the selling of TV commercials. Men’s tournament golf needs to have more color and exciting players. The LPGA is doing wonders in that respect.
My first 10 years in the golf business I was working for a pro who was a good golfer, but really never won anything of importance, however his personality attracted more attention than the winners.
When I was 18 I was dating a young lady whose father was extremely wealthy. The pro advised me to marry her. I told him that I didn’t love her. He said; “Love her? With that kind of money you could learn to love her. I married for love 3 times and am still working.”
When I was 18 he let me use his car to play in an Assistant Pro’s tournament, which was located 80 miles away. His car was a 16 Cylinder Cadillac which got 4 miles on a gallon. It almost broke me then- can you imagine what it would do now?