adminLONDON. — Imagine Earl Woods choosing to put a baseball bat rather than a golf club into the hands of young Eldrick, his toddler son. How different would golf be if Tiger Woods, who turned 40 yesterday (December 30), had chosen to play something else?
As the ailing 14-time major champion struggles to swing a club again, he can celebrate this landmark birthday by reflecting that no-one has had a bigger impact on the game.
The economic impact
Would modern-day golf be as athletic or back in the Olympics without his influence? “I doubt it,” European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke told the BBC.
“All sports progress, all sports move forward. Tennis has changed immensely as well over the years.
“But golf was somewhat slower to adapt to all that stuff. With all the technology we have now, fitness has become a huge part of it and I think Tiger led the way.”
The 47-year-old Clarke has played most of his career with Woods as a great friend and rival.
“Because he played so well, so consistently, everybody was trying to figure out what he did. Whatever he was doing was right, so he led the way on many fronts,” the 2011 Open champion added.
Another of those fronts was Woods’ economic impact. In 1996, when he burst on to the scene, PGA Tour purses totalled more than $100m for the first time.
In the previous six years they had grown at a rate of 3.4%. Then Woods won the 1997 Masters by an astonishing 12 strokes.
It was the big bang moment, the first of 14 major triumphs for the then 21 year old.
The last of those came at the 2008 US Open and by then the PGA Tour schedule was worth $292m. Prize money inflation ran at 9.3% in that period.
“The results are astonishing,” said American political scientist Roger Pielke Jr, who carried out extensive research into what he termed the “Tiger Woods effect”.
“Tiger effectively more than doubled the prize money for every other golfer, adding billions of dollars to fellow players’ pockets.”
Woods’ greatest rival has been five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who fully appreciates the way this trailblazer brought so much more money to golf.
“It’s unbelievable, the growth of this game — and Tiger has been the instigator,” Mickelson said.
“He’s brought increased ratings, increased sponsors, increased interest and we have all benefited.”
The decade of domination
Players may have been richer but many were shattered by Woods’ brilliance during his years of domination. — BBC Sport.again,”
Online Reporter