Right off of the bat, let's make one thing clear: The game of golf is bigger when Tiger Woods is playing and playing well.
His name is a lightning rod. Read a Bleacher Report article that has to do with Tiger, and then read the comments at the bottom. One way or another, the opinions are always strong.
On a recreational level, the game has grown since Tiger's arrival. More kids play, and many of them are on tour now.
The attention is greater with Tiger. A simple look at things like television ratings and attendance figures proves that. While that may not matter to the true golf fans, think about something before scoffing at that point.
In a poor economy, many tournaments are in danger because their sponsors don't want to spend the kind of money that it takes to put on a tournament. Sponsors won't be so quick to drop tournaments if they see television ratings and big attendance figures.
If the sponsors do drop the tournaments, another is likely to pick it up quickly, just on the off chance that a healthy Tiger Woods may play in it.
When Tiger's playing well, more casual fans watch. Heck, more casual fans will still watch tournaments that he isn't playing in than they do now.
But despite all of that, the game is still quite intriguing. You had the two top golfers in the world, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, just miss the cut at their national championship.
At that same tournament, we had a winner in Darren Clarke. He not only gave us a great sentimental story, but one that came virtually out of nowhere.
We have Rory McIlroy, the biggest name currently going, who is one major away from being an absolute superstar, and he's very close right now.
Look at Phil Mickelson, a guy who looked done as a big winner for most of this year. He just contended at the British Open, a major that he'd only been a serious factor in once before.
If someone asked me to use one word to describe the current state of golf, it would be "unpredictable."
I'm happy that I am not a betting man, because betting on a golf tournament right now is like flipping a 50-sided coin.
For the big golf fans out there, I would encourage you to keep watching the game. You probably don't need that encouragement, but it's worth giving. You know better than anyone that the game is great.
If those big golf fans like Tiger, then they should cheer for a speedy recovery. If you don't like Tiger, then you should still for a speedy recovery and realize that the fields awaiting him are deeper than anything he's ever experienced, which is significant.
Now, if you're a casual fan reading this, keep your attention on golf. Realize that Tiger will be back. Watching right now will only help identify who his top rivals might be when he gets there. It's also a great way to learn about some other great stories and great golfers.
As a sports fan, what do you prefer? Unpredictability, or dominance? Look at baseball. Did you prefer the 1990’s, which where dominated by the Yankees and Braves? Or have you preferred the years since 2000, where only the Yankees (2000, 2009) and Red Sox (2004, 2007) have won multiple World Series?
The unpredictability is what makes golf great right now. But if you liked the dominance, Tiger can bring the dominant storyline when he comes back—only his play won’t be as dominant.
That’s not saying Tiger will never win again. Actually, that’s not even saying that he won’t break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors. But he will never be as dominant as he once was.
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