Where would golf be today without Tiger Woods?

Significantly worse off. There are plenty of people who don't understand a thing about golf, but know who tiger woods is. Even after his decline he is still one of the biggest attractions to the game, and he's done a lot for the game in terms of raising its profile, IMO golf owes a lot to woods
 
And at amateur level he must of got thousands of kids into the game of golf, as before the scandal broke out he was a role model
 
The game would have moved forward. It always has but it wouldn't have the global appeal and revenue both in terms of equipment available and tournament purses. Like it or not Woods opened up the game worldwide.

Had he not been around it is doubtful the European Tour would have ventured to the likes of Dubai, China etc and the US tour certainly wouldn't have as many sponsors or viewing figures. It is doubtful Nike would have such, if any, market share in golf.
 
Bomber69 said:
Exactly where it is right now......

Tiger is no where near as big as the game:ooo:
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NO it wouldn't, even the biggest tiger hater must see that he has giving the game a global audience on TV and given the players the chance to bag $1M per tournament. Who else in the previous 10 years would have managed that?
 
Its difficult to say where the game would be if he had never played the game, not to different I'd imagine.
maybe we wouldn't have appearance fees.

He's certainly provided me with a lot of entertainment over the years, watching the game there's nothing better than watching him go toe to toe with someone on the final day of a major.

I'm hoping he gets back to somewhere near his best again,it's a big ask, but for me watching the game just isn't the same without him.
 
It's a hypothetical question so there can't be a true answer, the chances are the global appeal would be as it is now, the game would likely have a similar amount of money as it has now however I don't think players would be the athletes they are now, Tiger upped the ante at the end.

The game would have been fine without him
 
chris661 said:
NO it wouldn't, even the biggest tiger hater must see that he has giving the game a global audience on TV and given the players the chance to bag $1M per tournament. Who else in the previous 10 years would have managed that?
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The game was already global before he came on the scene and was still shelling out massive prize funds, golf owes Tiger nothing, Tiger owes golf just like all the other players out there.

I can't understand anyone who thinks the game would not be what is is now if he had not been about, show some respect to all the other players out there.
 
Bomber69 said:
I can't understand anyone who thinks the game would not be what is is now if he had not been about, show some respect to all the other players out there.
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It's not about respect to the other players...it's a simple fact that Tiger is 'box office' in a way that no other player is or has been in the last 15 years. Rory's probably the next closest thing but he still has a long way to go before he has the same appeal that Tiger's had. It's well known that when Woods is competing (and especially when he's on the leaderboard), TV audiences soar. That means more ad money and more money for prizes. Of course prize money would have continued to grow and it would still seem like a lot of money to us mere mortals, but there's no way it would be at the level it is now if it hadn't been for the Tiger effect.
 
muttleee said:
It's not about respect to the other players...it's a simple fact that Tiger is 'box office' in a way that no other player is or has been in the last 15 years. Rory's probably the next closest thing but he still has a long way to go before he has the same appeal that Tiger's had. It's well known that when Woods is competing (and especially when he's on the leaderboard), TV audiences soar. That means more ad money and more money for prizes. Of course prize money would have continued to grow and it would still seem like a lot of money to us mere mortals, but there's no way it would be at the level it is now if it hadn't been for the Tiger effect.
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Yes he's a box office draw but without him others would ahve topped the leader boards, interestingly looking at 2nd placed players in tigers majors Monty would have had one as would Els possibly had another 2 and even Chris dimarco would have had 2
 
Bomber69 said:
The game was already global before he came on the scene and was still shelling out massive prize funds, golf owes Tiger nothing, Tiger owes golf just like all the other players out there.

I can't understand anyone who thinks the game would not be what is is now if he had not been about, show some respect to all the other players out there.
Click to expand...

Sorry the game wasn't global. China hadn't been used as a tour event and nor had the Middle East. They all saw the Woods effect and wanted him to play over there so laid on the best of the best of everything to entice him.

The game would have moved forward as I said in my original reply as it had done before and after Jack, Seve and the others, but it is the first time arguably since the 60's that anyone has dominated in the way Nicklaus did. With the way the world has changed and more corporate investment in sponsorship, more manufacturers and a bigger global audience (you and me). He has made the others raise their games too bot in terms of fitness and technique. That isn't me saying that but a quote that has come from everyone over the years from Westwood, McIlroy, Els etc adn so if the players respect the Woods effect I think we're safe to consider what he has doen without hurting their feelings
 
Tiger is a product of his time, Golf was the beneficiary in that here was a prodigious talent that was marketable in a way that wasn't possible in earlier era's. Now I am not his biggest fan but I do recognise that his incredible dedication to the game and his fitness put him on another level and that made him a marketing man's dream.

The far/middle east (with the exception of Japan) was not a market that was available to earlier players it only really opened up from the late eighties/early nineties so to say that Golf's expansion was purely down to the Tiger effect would be a little unfair but there is no doubt he was a figure that was easily recognisable in the way that Muhammad Ali was in the seventies and that was pure Gold to the Golf Industry.
 
Bomber69 said:
Exactly where it is right now......

Tiger is no where near as big as the game:ooo:
Click to expand...

Please, why won't you just admit that you are just as big of a TW fan like the most of us.
Your in EVERY single Tiger thread........not even his biggest fans on here has that much dedication.

Your Tiger bashing is starting to become embarrassing now. I think he must of shunned your request for a autograph in the past and your all butt hurt about it....:)
 
Pro golf would have been worse off financially, but other than that would the tours really have struggled? They were expanding before he came along (outside the USA at any rate) and they would have continued without him, though undoubtedly not to the same extent as they have.

In this country I firmly believe amatuer golf would hav ebeen far better off. In the 80s golf was booming becasue we had Faldo, Lyle & Woosnam and were battering the Yanks in the RC. Everyone wanted to play.

Yet over the last 15-20 years there's a lost generation of golfers with the demographic ageing dramatically. Surely no coincidence that during that time we had little international success to drive joe public to take up the game?

And look at the last two years when Tiger has been largely absent, interest (in this country) in golf has risen again.
 
he has certainly had a huge effect on the pro game, but looking around the club, do i really see many people who would have taken up the game because of him? I'm very nearly ages with tiger, yet i'm one of 5 members in an 10 year age group 5 years either side. most of the juniors have parents who are members.

so if young people aren't joining clubs (and i consider myself young only in the golf club membership context!) are they paying and playing more than they used to be, and can tiger be thought to have influenced this? I'd say probably people are trying out golf, purely because the profile of the game is more than it was previously. but then golf is a hard game just to "try out".

if there has been a tiger effect on the amateur game, i fear that most clubs have missed out on it.
 
HughJars said:
Pro golf would have been worse off financially, but other than that would the tours really have struggled? They were expanding before he came along (outside the USA at any rate) and they would have continued without him, though undoubtedly not to the same extent as they have.

In this country I firmly believe amatuer golf would hav ebeen far better off. In the 80s golf was booming becasue we had Faldo, Lyle & Woosnam and were battering the Yanks in the RC. Everyone wanted to play.

Yet over the last 15-20 years there's a lost generation of golfers with the demographic ageing dramatically. Surely no coincidence that during that time we had little international success to drive joe public to take up the game?

And look at the last two years when Tiger has been largely absent, interest (in this country) in golf has risen again.
Click to expand...

Good post.
 
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