A lot. Sunday’s viewership of the tournament held at Firestone Country Club was a 2.0 share compared to 4.3 last year. What was the difference this year? Tiger wasn’t on TV except for the highlights of his dismal performance. And last year? Well, Tiger what it all. Click here for the complete article by Darren Ravell of CNBC.
Posts Tagged ‘Tiger Woods’
The Weather and Golf
Monday, August 9th, 2010Everyone else is blogging about Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s collapse this weekend. I am going to change gears. I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend. It is about the impact this summer’s weather has had on golf courses. Pretty interesting read. A few courses have had to shut down completely.
Who is to blame? According to this article….well…..everyone has a little blame.
Graeme McDowell Wins the 2010 US Open
Monday, June 21st, 2010Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland claimed the victory for the 2010 US Open. McDowell finished with a 74 (+3)… just 2 putts on the 18th hole to win. This was one great tournament and certainly challenged the best. Going into the final round, Dustin Johnson was leading by 3 strokes. But the table suddenly turned when he shot a triple bogey on the second hole and a double bogey on the third hole. After that it only continued to decline for Johnson as he finished his round with an 82 and tied for 8th place.
Els, Mickelson, Woods, and Havret all struggled to work some magic on the course to take the lead. Only one player could withstand the pressure of the tournament and the challenges of the course and that was Graeme. “I can’t believe how difficult this golf course was,” McDowell said. “No matter how good you play … good golf got reward, and bad golf got punished really badly.”
This is McDowell’s first major tour win. He’s the first European to achieve the feat since Tony Jacklin did it 40 years ago at Hazeltine. McDowell turned pro in 2002. Prior to becomng a pro, McDowell won the Fred Haskins Award as the United States’ top collegiate golfer. Two weeks ago, he won his fifth title at the Celtic Manor Wales Open. McDowell has earned a five year exemption as a result of his victory should he decide to join the PGA Tour. And why wouldn’t he? It’s a golden ticket to playing both the U.S. circuit and the European Tour.
McDowell’s victory was the perfect Father’s Day gift for his dad, Kenny, who has been by his side since he began playing golf in his junior years. For those of you who watched the final shot and green’s celebration, I’m sure you all caught that “Hallmark” moment when father and son hugged in glorious celebration. Congrats to Graeme McDowell for his well-deserved US Open win!
2010 U.S. Open – Round 2 Recap
Friday, June 18th, 2010What a difference a day makes! Phil Mickelson rallied with 5 birdies in the first 8 holes and another on #11 for a final score of 66 in Round 2, placing him one shot behind the leader, Graeme McDowell, who posted a 68. That’s a nine shot variance from Round 1 where he shot a birdie-free round of 75. Mickelson’s score of 66 is just one shot shy of the U.S. Open record lowest score at Pebble Beach. Phil’s focus is that of Bobby Jones…. “play against old man par”…. and that’s exactly what Phil did during today’s round finishing tied for second and placing him in great position for the rest of the tournament.
Tiger Woods finished at +4 with a round of 72. He had 3 birdies and 4 bogeys after his birdie-free Round 1. He’s right in the middle of the pack for the weekend. If he can rally in Round 3 like Phil did today, he’ll be right in the hunt. “ I’m right there in the championship,’’ he said. “I just need to make a few more birdies, a few more putts on the weekend and I’ll be right there.” If Phil and Tiger can get in the groove, Round 3 will prove to be exciting.
Other notable finishes: The “young gun”, Ryo Ishikawa, posted an even par 71 to maintain his second place finish for Round 2. Ernie Els posted a 68, moving him from #27 to tied for second. Dustin Johnson shot a 70 finishing tied for second.
U.S. Open – Round 1 Recap
Thursday, June 17th, 2010The U.S. Open seemed to be a challenge for the majority of the field during Round 1 at Pebble Beach. Both Woods and Mickelson shot a birdie-free round; a first in any PGA Tour round. Mickelson posted a 75; his first round in on the PGA Tour without a birdie since the first round of the 2007 U.S. Open. On the other hand, Woods posted a 74, his first birdie-free round during a PGA Tour Major since the 2003 Masters. So how do they fare in the overall standings? All in all, not too bad; both are in the top half of the field in scoring.
Only three players posted a score under 70: Shaun Micheel, 69; Paul Casey, 69; Brendon de Jonge, 69. One of the lead “young guns”, Ryo Ishikawa, posted a respectable 70. (At age 18, Ishikawa, holds seven Japan Tour championships.) Along with Ishikawa, Cabrera-Bella, Choi, Weir, Poulter, and Cejka posted a first round of 70.
The late afternoon created a challenge for all on the putting surface. The fast, bumpy poa challenged the world’s best players. Those that are teeing off in the morning for Round 2 should find a kinder course on the greens.
Golf’s New Kids on the Block
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010Rory McIlroy shot a 10-under 62 on Sunday en route to capturing the the Quail Hollow Championship. Rory is the ripe ole’ age of 20. He became the youngest player to win a PGA Tour event since Tiger Woods in 1996.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Ryo Ishikawa shot a record 58 on Sunday to win the The Crowns Championship in Japan. This is his seventh Japan Tour win. By the way, he is 18.
In my opinion, this is what golf needs. We need Rory, Ryo and the Anthony Kims of the world to step up and start winning tournaments like this. All three have a certain sense of flair like one Tiger Woods. And let’s face it, we need a little flair to drive us to the TV sets and watch golf. No offense against the Steve Strickers or the Lucas Golvers of golf. They just don’t do it for me like these other guys. Would you rather be watching a 20 year old kid who looks 13 with black curly hair hanging out of his cap who stands all of maybe 5′ 9″ who also has energy and enthusiasm? Or would you rather watch Stricker, Glover, Weir, etc.? I know the answer for me. Go young guys!!!!
Posted by Rod Snyder
Stricker #1?
Monday, February 8th, 2010Life’s little problems aside, Tiger Woods is still the number 1 golfer in the world per the official rankings. Following him is Steve Stricker. Not Phil. Not one of the young guns. But Steve Stricker. No fist pump. No current “Arnie vs. Jack”. Is this good for golf?
The Tiger Brand
Thursday, February 4th, 2010Just read an interesting article on ESPN.com. According to Forbes, Tiger’s scandal hasn’t hurt his brand. Tiger’s brand is worth an estimated $82 mil annually. That is more than the next five combined – David Beckham ($20 mil), Roger Federer ($16 mil), Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($14 mil – how is that possible with that kind of record?), Lebron James ($13 mil) and Kobe Bryant ($12 mil).
So, what have we learned? I don’t know. But there are probably a few things.
Golf goes on with the first PGA event
Monday, January 11th, 2010Despite the dethroning of King Tiger late last year golf has to go on. The first event of the 2010 PGA Tour season ended with a whimper on the 18th green of Kapalua’s Plantation course Sunday. A six-inch tap-in putt by Geoff Ogilvy enabled him to win the season opener for a second successive year. However, the shots leading up to the putt were not quite as tame, and just proved that there are many pros on tour playing flawless golf with determination and excellent decision making abilities. A year after winning the same tournament by six shots, Ogilvy used the above mentioned skills to make up a two-shot deficit over his last 10 holes for a 6-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini, making him only the second repeat winner at Kapalua.
U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover’s bid to become the second straight wire-to-wire winner at Kapalua ended early when he hit into the hazard on consecutive holes and lost three shots. He closed with a 76 and was 14th in the 28-man field.
Back to Ogilvy though: check out a shot that makes mere golf morals sigh and realize the difference between “us” and “them.”
Tiger Woods’ Impact on the Golf Economy with his “Transgressions”
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009When this story first broke, it was the talk of the moment. No different than Dave Letterman a couple months back. Now most of us are saying Dave who????
Tiger’s transgressions. So now, we have all Googled transgressions to figure out what it means. And then we put two and two together and realized, he didn’t say transgression. He said transgressions – plural.
If there was one transgression while Tiger has been married over the past five years, that was more than likely forgivable. We Americans forgive virtually anything and everything. In fact, I felt the day after the story broke, had there been only one, everything would have been the same in a couple months. Tiger would be back on the course, winning tournaments. Maybe divorced, maybe not. But it wasn’t going to affect the golf world a whole heck of a lot.
Fast forward a week or so. Now we have the plural of transgression with no end in sight.
Here is the question. What impact does this have on the golf industry? And I am talking about the economic impact. Tiger has made a lot of people very rich since he came on the scene. The total purse for the Masters Tournament in 1997 was $2.7 million. He won that year earning $486k. This year Angel Carbera won earning $1.35 mil. Do you think Angel Cabrera would have had the opportunity to earn that amount of money had it not been for Tiger Woods? I don’t. Tiger’s impact on his fellow golfer’s pocket books has been huge. What happens now? Will Tiger come back strong – mind over matter – like he always has? Or will he fade away and impact his fellow golfers in a different way? Viewership is down when Tiger is not around. Galleries are lighter when Tiger is not around. That means money flowing away from golf.
Mike Greenberg of ESPN used the word “sad” to describe the Tiger Woods situation this morning. I agree. But I can’t help to think that the business revolved around golf is going to be sad too.
Submitted by Rod Snyder
