Love him or hate him - does golf need Tiger Woods?

[mansell]

Mickelson from the 1st hole to the 18th
Continually acknowledged the crowd even
when he double boggie where as woods had
a face on him like a slapped arse
he is nothing but a miserable sod when he is losing
so i voted not needed

 

[medwayjon]

Freddie, I am as strong as an OX, I bench 15 stone, but my mates still call me a fat git!

 

[freddielong]

Lol get new mates

I am only asking this because I don't no how long you have been playing but do you guys remember the game pre Tiger

 

[CrapHacker]

Pro golfers used to fall into one of two groups you were either naturally talented (Seve Woosie Arnie etc) or you worked your ass off (Nick Jack Monty) now you need both and you also need to be an athlete that is how far tiger lifted the bar

Sorry. I'm disagreeing again.

Jack was an athelete. And he was hugely talented

And he worked his arse off.

And as for Faldo. If Tiger had taken the game up at the age of 16 rather than 16 months ( or whatever it was ) would he have got to be world number one.

I think that takes talent and hard work.

Yes Tiger has upped the ante. But he's no more spectacular than other greats, he's just the newest.

He might well beat Jack's record of Major victories ( or he might not, we'll have to see ). But then, 20 years after that, someone will beat his record. It'll happen.

He won't be the greatest of all time. But he is the greatest of this time.

 

[medwayjon]

Was Seve not an athlete?

He was incredibly fit, strong and athletic so I beg to differ on the seve front.

 

[KeefG]

woods had a face on him like a slapped arse he is nothing but a miserable sod when he is losing

People keep going on about this, its not that he's miserable whilst playing, this is Tiger's mental attitude. He's in his own bubble and blocks everything out, you can't knock the guy for that for crying out loud!!!

Its this mental toughness and attitude that has created the Tigerfactor, players not being able to compete with him mentally over the years.

 

[freddielong]

Seve was fit but not in the same league as tiger or a lot of the guys today Jack was not an athlete and he has also stated many times that was not a natural golfer.

 

[toonarmy]

Tony - remember a few years back, i think it was 1999 ish when your team, Man United pulled out of the FA Cup so that they could play in the world club championships?

The FA Cup that year was tainted because the best team in the land wasn't taking part in it.

I'll think you'll find it was tainted by the weakness of the FA in letting it happen without punishment and the disgraceful snub to the world's oldest club cup competition by the holders in favour of a meaningless money and PR exercise.

The actual competition went ahead without a hint of any loss due to Man U's absence in my eyes.

 

[mansell]

woods had a face on him like a slapped arse he is nothing but a miserable sod when he is losing

People keep going on about this, its not that he's miserable whilst playing, this is Tiger's mental attitude. He's in his own bubble and blocks everything out, you can't knock the guy for that for crying out loud!!!

Its this mental toughness and attitude that has created the Tigerfactor, players not being able to compete with him mentally over the years.

KeefG up untill this post your contributions to the forum
were brilliant and i took on board a lot of what you said
but your reply to this topic i am sorry to say but your so wrong how come when he is winning he has the biggest smile
and jumps around the course as though he is a 10 year old

 

[KeefG]

woods had a face on him like a slapped arse he is nothing but a miserable sod when he is losing

People keep going on about this, its not that he's miserable whilst playing, this is Tiger's mental attitude. He's in his own bubble and blocks everything out, you can't knock the guy for that for crying out loud!!!

Its this mental toughness and attitude that has created the Tigerfactor, players not being able to compete with him mentally over the years.

KeefG up untill this post your contributions to the forum
were brilliant and i took on board a lot of what you said
but your reply to this topic i am sorry to say but your so wrong how come when he is winning he has the biggest smile
and jumps around the course as though he is a 10 year old

Mansell - thank you for the compliment!

However, show me video evidence, or someone to back up your story of Tiger "jumping round a course like a 10yo" as i do believe you'll find you're off the mark.

Tiger plays 99% of the time with the same sullen look on his face, he may crack the odd smile when he holes out from 170yds, but watch his face from any of his good putts from any recent events...even when doing the fist pump thing, his facial expression rarely changes from that of someone who has just discovered his wife has left him for his best mate.

 

[CrapHacker]

Seve was fit but not in the same league as tiger or a lot of the guys today Jack was not an athlete and he has also stated many times that was not a natural golfer.

That's Jack being diplomatic and generous.

He took up golf at the age of 9 or 10 and had broken 70 by the time he was a teenager.

He hit the ball miles past the previous generation of golfer, and was more athletic than they were.

Comparing like with like. Jack comes up trumps.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Yes definately. Golf needs to have the best players playing in all the major comps and lets be honest Tiger is THE best.

Tiger is the man every young player wants to be because of his fantastic ability on the course

Although when Tiger never played for a few months it gave the other top players more coverage which is great for the game.

Take last night for example, the galleries following Tiger until the 17th when he had blown his chance, compared to those following the eventual winner you would've thought Tiger was about to win it.

 

[Smiffy]

People keep going on about this, its not that he's miserable whilst playing, this is Tiger's mental attitude. He's in his own bubble and blocks everything out, you can't knock the guy for that for crying out loud!!!

Jack and Arnie would have also been in their "own bubble" when they were playing.
But would they have teed off at 5.00am during practice days at the Open, played a few holes around the back of the course and then buggered off back to their hotels to avoid letting the paying public see them?
Nope.
Tiger Woods is a great golfer, of that there is no doubt whatsover.
But certain things that he does really make you want to dislike the guy.
What he fails to remember sometimes is that it's the paying public that have made him rich beyond his wildest dreams.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think you'll find that Faldo was number one in the world for a short time and I can tell you from speaking to him personally back in 1983 while wandering around Royal Wimbledon with him and Lyle during a practice game that he was working on his fitness back then. Granted it was not as scientific as today but he was looking at core stability and muscle tone with Leadbitter.

On the subject of Woods (why are there so many TW threads all of a sudden btw) American golf needed Woods for several reasons but primarily form a business perspective. TV figures were down and sponosrs no longer saw the USPGA as a vehicle for their money. Profits were down and a number of events were drifting off the calender until TW came along, and especially once he had turned pro.

I like watching Woods. When he is on it is a different sport and when he is off its fun watching him try (and usually succeeding) to pull off miraculous recoveries. I think it is unrealistic to expect him to be smiles and laughter as he plays. It was drummed into him by his dad from an early age to show no weakness and his father saw smiling and acknowledging the crowd as a distraction and therefore a weakness and made Woods stop. If you get to see early footage after he turned pro he was quite good with the crowds a la Mickleson but this slowly go taken out of him by his dad.

 

[Herbie]

Just following the OP question as I think I drifted off somewhat......

Tiger is great for the game, a good ambassador and when on form a fantastic player. Golf and all things Golf Desire him but he is not NEEDED in the sense of the game crumbling without him, he will be a legend and there will be other legends waiting in line, and the golf goes on!

 

[haplesshacker]

I think the crowds following Tiger and Phil yesterday kind of proved whether golf needs Tiger. By that I mean golf needs the greenbacks (dollars).

Yes, 'heroes' of previous generations, were 'atheletes' of their time, but as Schmacher did in F1, Tiger did the same in golf. He raised the bar. Each generation has it's 'bar' raisers. It's foolish to say that Tiger is the best, because in generations to come, there will be others. Just as when my old man was in his 40's, he thought the BBC B computor was hi-tech, and look where we are now. My windows mobile phone can do far more, and yet when my son reaches forty, he'll look at the technology from now and say it was rubbish.

Any sport needs it's heroes, but as others have pointed out, it's no good for the sport if it's dominated by one person. And that's why I really enjoyed watching the Phil / Tiger match yesterday.

My only concern is that to be the best, a youngster has to dedicate his life to the cause, probably at the expense of all else, including education, and at great expense to the parents. The gap between the greats and the also-ran pros will only get bigger. And what if the youngster doesn't 'make it'? I'm all for developing talent, but at what expense to the 100's if not 1000's of individuals that don't make it?

Competition is what makes a great era in sport, not dominence.

Sorry to have gone on.


Again!!

 

[mono217]

I love tiger but he is not needed by golf look at the other great players rory, poulter, mickelson, danny lee loads coming through the ranks.

 

[viscount17]

Does golf need Tiger - no and yes

Tiger is not essential to golf, though when you have days as yesterday with as good a contest as with Phil it would seem that it does. I do believe that to be misleading, a battle that epic between any two players of stature would have been equally as good for golf. There is, however, no gainsaying that he does draw the crowds and hence the money.

Golf does not need one challenger to Tiger it needs every player to challenge when in a position to do so - too many back off. Last year should have taught them that anyone can win, you just need to want it enough.

The fact that one player was missing (or one team) does not diminish a competition - you still have to win and beat all who turn up (and does anyone seriously think that Tiger could have won the Open last year, in those conditions?)

as for Tiger being miserable and sulky - he is, but it is far more evident when up against someone like Phil who seems to enjoy the gallery so much more. He's not the only one, don't get in Thomas Bjorn's way when he's not playing well - he'll walk right through you!

 

[Cernunnos]

Golf needed Tiger to raise the bar, to raise the standards the players set for themselves.

But over time his dominance became stifling to players trying to compete.

This means his absence from golf has left a void that many players have tried to fill with the same commitment seen from Tiger. Its seen many young guns picking up the mantle & torch left by Tiger in his temporary absence. This has been very good for the sport.

I just hope now that Tiger is back that play doesn't get as stifled as it got, & realise that Tiger is human & can be beaten.

In short Golf may have needed Tiger at one point to raise the bar & create new targets, but he really is no-longer needed for the game. The game can survive without Tiger quite merrily as has been proven.