Tiger is back!

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3TrueFans

Just a Happily Married Man
Sep 10, 2009
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Ames
Glad he is able to play again. However, Golf channel announcers and coverage of him today is sickening and should be embarrassing to Golf Channel
Lol, it's a tournament hosted by Tiger, to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, on a golf course partially owned by Tiger, with Tiger playing in a competitive tournament for the first time in quite some time.
 

ZJohnson

Well-Known Member
Mar 27, 2006
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Charlotte
Glad he is able to play again. However, Golf channel announcers and coverage of him today is sickening and should be embarrassing to Golf Channel

Yeah you are right, they shouldn't cover him at all. They have no idea how to get viewers...
 

coolerifyoudid

Well-Known Member
Feb 8, 2013
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Has any one person ever controlled a sport's viewership like Tiger does with golf? We have legendary athletes right now (LeBron, Messi, Federer, Brady) but none of them change their sport like Tiger does.

He doesn't really have an equal in affecting viewership for a sport that otherwise goes largely unnoticed. To be fair to your other examples, it's considerably tougher to impact a team sport, though.

While I was considering possible parallels, I tried to think of seldom-watched individual sports like tennis, bowling and Olympic sports. Tennis has had some superstars, but I don't know that any of them has necessarily made someone that doesn't normally watch tennis to all of a sudden start watching it. I've tuned into watch Lance Armstrong (yeah, I know) and Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps compete when I otherwise wouldn't give their sports much notice, but Tiger still leads them all by a pretty significant amount.

Edit: I'd add that a horse threatening the Triple Crown also garners additional attention for a sport, but it's usually just for one season.
 

jbindm

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2010
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Des Moines
Has any one person ever controlled a sport's viewership like Tiger does with golf? We have legendary athletes right now (LeBron, Messi, Federer, Brady) but none of them change their sport like Tiger does.

It isn't quite apples to apples since your examples were all team sports. But if we're talking individual sports, I think Agassi usually drew more viewers for Grand Slam matches back in his prime. And you have Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt for track and field, and Michael Phelps for swimming. I suppose you'd throw Conor McGregor in there for UFC as well. Those are the recent examples I can think of. Lance Armstrong helped make cycling more mainstream, but I don;t know if more people were tuning in to watch the Tour de France.
 

theantiAIRBHG

Well-Known Member
May 25, 2011
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Hiawatha, IA
Glad he is able to play again. However, Golf channel announcers and coverage of him today is sickening and should be embarrassing to Golf Channel

Yes Golf Channel being overly excited about the most popular golfer in the last 25 years being back and playing well is totally embarrassing. Not like Tiger directly impacts their viewership or anything.
 
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cyclonespiker33

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SuperFanatic
Jan 19, 2011
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If nothing else, what Tiger has done through 27 holes is very impressive. Hope he can maintain it.
 

Tre4ISU

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Dec 30, 2008
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I just can't believe the distance he has. I would have bet a good sum of money he wouldn't ever hit it this far again, let alone in the first one back. Who knows if it means anything but I think this has been as good as anyone could have hoped.
 

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
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Lol, it's a tournament hosted by Tiger, to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, on a golf course partially owned by Tiger, with Tiger playing in a competitive tournament for the first time in quite some time.

Meh, give me more hard-hitting Charlie Hoffman analysis.

(kidding)
 

cyclonespiker33

Well-Known Member
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Jan 19, 2011
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Not too shabby on the golf course, either
latest
 

Cyclone.TV

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2016
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I just can't believe the distance he has. I would have bet a good sum of money he wouldn't ever hit it this far again, let alone in the first one back. Who knows if it means anything but I think this has been as good as anyone could have hoped.

It’s way better than I had ever imagined. It’s pretty incredible really. Long and straight? And swinging with that ball speed? Ridiculous.