Tiger Woods Part I

I was asked by the publisher of "Let's Talk Nevada" to do an article about Tiger and his influence on golf. I got carried away and ended up submitting a two part column. I didn't know I had that much to say.

Part 1: What Tiger Woods has meant to golfers

By: Terry Donnelly

Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

Seeing that name in print or hearing it over the airwaves brings on an intense reaction from nearly every person who has been conscious the last 20 years. There are a handful of celebrities who are recognizable by one name and who rest upon the absolute pinnacle of society. Woods is more than a sportsman; he is a transformational modern culture icon.

Okay, that said, those intense reactions run the gambit from loving to loathing, from superstar to subhuman. Tiger Woods made himself into a massive brand that transcends any one individual. However, when the individual showed himself as a mere mortal, he has both failed, bringing upon himself immense scorn; and reached great heights with his foundation for kids and humanitarian acts. When working within his field, the 18 holes of a golf course, he has few, if any, peers.

It is because of this celebrity that those involved in news and discussion outlets (including myself) choose to focus time and words on this charisma laden media magnet.

Love him or hate him there are a few facts that cannot be denied. If you hate him for his apparent misogynistic leanings, or are tired of seeing only his shots on Sunday afternoon television while the rest of the field plays behind the scenes, or you want him to succeed because he represents a level of expertise possibly never before achieved, or you want the field to rise to the challenge; all of those opinions must stem from a series of facts.

The overriding fact here is that Tiger Woods changed the game of golf for golfers. There are basically two men who can claim that mantle since Mary Queen of Scots got hooked on the game in the 1500s. Woods is, of course one, and the other is Arnold Palmer.

Palmer came along in the early 1950s. At that time professional golfers were second-class citizens who changed their shoes in the parking lot and were considered entertainment for the golfing gentry. Sam Snead, one of those always mentioned when the word “greatest” is uttered within a golf conversation, played for over 40 years and won a record 82 professional tournaments from 1931 to 1973. During that time he won exactly $712,972–second place in last year’s Masters Tournament won more than that.

Then along came Arnold and his army of fans in 1952. Actually Arnie’s Army came later as fans flocked to watch him play whether it was in person or on the new outlet for golf–television. An equal measure of Arnie and TV moved the needle on how professional golfers were treated and the kind of living they could make at the game. The winner of the 1952 Masters Tournament won $4,000. When Arnie won his first in 1958, he won $11,250. By 1980, 22 years later when Arnie was all but done with competitive golf and had worked his magic, the winner took home almost five times that amount–$55,000.

The mix of television and Arnold Palmer brought about a new era for professional golf. The television contracts and the throngs of people who flocked to tournaments around the country put money in the coffers and the share for each participant began to rise. Golfers quickly went from traveling by carpool from tournament to tournament and having to live by their wits as well as their clubs, to being household names who flew on chartered (or in Arnie’s case his own) jets. The pros knew it too. To a man they realized that Arnold Palmer had singlehandedly gotten them all a raise in pay and a boost in status. To this day they all call him “The King” behind his back and “Mister Palmer” to his face.

Fast forward to 1996. The game had grown even more thanks to the continued efforts of Palmer and others like Jack Nicklaus and Deane Beman who were smart and handled the affairs of golf’s celebrity well. When a young man named Tiger Woods won his first Masters Tournament in 1997 his first place prize was $450,000, about eight and a half times what Seve Ballesteros won in 1980.

What happened next is almost unexplainable. When Tiger won again in 2001, his paycheck for the weekend at Augusta was $1.1 million. After only four years of Tiger being in the field, the purse had more than doubled and last year’s 2014 winner, Bubba Watson, pocketed $1,440,000. The purse of the Masters has tripled since 1996 when Tiger Woods burst onto the golf scene.

Television was already a big part of golf, so Woods didn’t have the novelty factor of the tube to help him change the face of golf once again.

In 20 years, the last three of which Woods had hardly played at all due to injuries and other self inflicted personal woes, he redefined what it meant to be a top golfer. In those years he has amassed 79 victories (three short of Snead who took over 40 years to win his 82), 14 major tournaments with 18 being the standard set by Nicklaus, and an eye popping $110 million in prize money. That laps the field in any comparison. Phil Mickelson is second on the all time money list at $75 million–$35 mil short. Fifth place is $48 million and 10^th is $37 million–pocket change to Woods. Arnold Palmer is 388^th on this list with a miniscule $1.8 million. Any modern player who is around for even a couple of years has won much more than Palmer did in a star-studded career.

I’m done writing about the super stars. What about the average Joe on the pro tour these days–the guy that goes to work on the links every weekend and shoots a round of par each time. If there were such a golfer he would have earned $2,111,425 last year. That number is a bit skewed because of the US Open, which is made rigorous to the point of ridiculous every year and a score of par, can win. Take away that one million dollar paycheck and our par shooting pro pockets over one million dollars and never shot a score in the 60s all year.

Suffice it to say that all pro golfers’ boats have risen with the flood of interest that Tiger Woods brought to the game. He is a transformational super star of the highest magnitude whether you like the way he runs his personal life or his approach to the game.

Will he best Snead’s 82 career victories? Likely. Will he surpass Nicklaus’ 18 majors? Doubtful. Will he retire from the game after his recent crash-and-burn disaster of a comeback? Not going to happen. Will he ever regain the respect he held after the year 2000 when he produced maybe the best golfing year ever? No.

So, Woods’ golfing future seems to be a mixed bag. But, like Palmer, the other pros know Woods has vastly improved their bank accounts, and set a higher bar for their golf skills as well.

Golfers and the game of golf are better for having Tiger prowl among us.