Tiger Wins On Nationwide Tour!

Posted by John

August 6, 2009

I kid you of course! Tiger actually won the Buick Open at Warwick Hills last Sunday, but it sure looked like the Nationwide Tour if you watched the leaderboard. Where were Ogilvy, Kim, Casey, Garcia, Perry, Singh, Goosen, Els, Harrington, Cink …..? Were Tiger and Jim Furyk the only regular top 10 finishers who bothered to go to Michigan? Is the PGA Tour falling on its on sword?

Of course the Tour isn’t dead, but it definitely may be dying and many tour players are fiddling away like Nero! We rarely notice when things start to go into decline, like the economy. Then when the shit hits the fan we all look back and wonder why we didn’t see it coming.

Competitive golf is about one on one competition, mano y mano, like boxing. The guys don’t bash each other with their clubs, but they trade mental and physical blows nevertheless. I believe the uniqueness of competitive golf is what made the game so popular.

In this country it started with Quimet and Vardon and has been carried on through the years by the games great names. Arnie the swashbuckler built an army and lifted the popularity of the Pro Tour as he slashed his way to victory. Jack, Gary, Tom and Lee carried on the tradition with their ongoing head to head duels. Tiger arrived on the scene and saved the tour just as mediocrity was taking hold and it became impossible to tell one tour player from another.

My fears are that we’ve seen the peak in popularity of the pro game. Combine this with the long term economic downward spiral we’ll be in for years and you have a prescription for the games great 21st century demise.

How many of you have been thinking that you wouldn’t watch much Pro golf on TV if Tiger wasn’t around. If Tiger hadn’t been at the Buick, who would have tuned in except for family and friends of the players. I realize this is an off week for many players, but that’s my point. The pros future financial success depends on giving the fans a plausible competitive storyline.

What draws more viewers to a Master’s broadcast than the idea of Phil taking on Tiger. We want to see the heavy weights duel it out a la Hogan versus Nelson. We want to see two guys go head to head for 72 holes where the outcome is decided by an 8 foot downhill knee knocker on the last hole. We want to see a birdie answered with an eagle.

Imagine if last Sunday is a look at the future. If that’s the case, the shuffleboard senior championships may have bigger purses in a few years. I’m not sure Tim Finchem gets it. I know that most of the young pros don’t. They have no concept that they are obligated to supply competition and drama if they want to keep their golden egg laying goose from becoming pate.

Today’s young players have no clue. Pro golf is a mellow gig for most of them. They come up through pro golf’s farm system run by the NCAA. The best can jump directly to the PGA, with the rest having to do a year or two on the Nationwide Tour. After that they can make their millions in a few years, without having to actually win, and live a very nice life in the process. ‘Honey, I’m off to work. I’ll be in the backyard chipping and putting.’ How is that going to resonate with the masses who will be lucky to make a million over a lifetime of work. Maybe you think there’s drama in a player having a put worth $110k on the last hole. But wait, the guy is 28, has two mansions on golf courses, his own jet and endorsements worth one million a year. That’s not really pressure, that’s a choice between two paychecks, either of which we won’t see ever for 4 days of work.

I suggest Finchem call a meeting of his troops and give them a quick history lesson on how the tour reached the popularity and purses of the modern era. If they don’t put drama back into the game by providing the viewers with an enticing competitive golf product, there own children may have to pick range balls or clean golf carts if they want a career in golf! If last Sunday is an indication of what’s ahead, then even Tiger won’t be able to save the Pro Tour.