Tiger Woods: For Better or Worse for PGA Golf?

Every generation of American golfers has had a legend to hang their collective Titleist visor on. At the turn of the century, Bobby Jones was that man. Over time, he passed the torch to the likes of Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, and Walter Hagen. From there, Ben Hogan, mechanically crafted swing and all, took over.

The game found itself in an unprecedented upswing of popularity when Arnold Palmer burst onto the scene with his swashbuckling approach to the game. Arnie's Army was a massive and proud legion that begrudgingly had no choice but to concede that Jack Nicklaus was his era's dominant golfer. While the two of them would be forever linked, it was their vastly different styles of play that would spawn the next generation of golfers.

Because of golf's newfound status as a sport for the people, the 1970's and 1980's saw an increasing amount of up-and-comers competing to be the "Next Jack." Players such as Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, and Hale Irwin won their share of majors, but not nearly with the proficiency that the Golden Bear had years before. When he won the 1986 Masters at the dinosaur-like (in PGA Tour standards) age of 46, Nicklaus may as well have been saying, "See, now that's how it's done," to all those aspiring to his greatness.

Just when it seemed as though no one would ever challenge his records, most notably 18 majors, Eldrick Woods joined the PGA Tour. Known better by the nickname, Tiger, this phenom set the golfing world on fire with his record-setting Masters win in 1997. Many more majors would follow, most notably the "Tiger-Slam" of four consecutive majors stringing from 2000-2001.

So good is Tiger that it becomes a story when he does not win a major in a given year. So good is Tiger that the fabled Augusta National had to lengthen itself for fear of becoming embarrassed by the ease with which Tiger devoured in 1997. So good is Tiger that world-class talents Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, and Ernie Els are destined to become trivial footnotes in the annals of golf lore simply because they had the audacity to be born in Tiger's lifetime.

But for all the accolades that should be showered upon Tiger Woods, there comes a price. So good is Tiger Woods that he has literally affected every single golfer in the world.

There was once a time that the average round of golf took 4 hours, 30 minutes. Golf clubs had their niche crowds, but often needed special rates to entice other golfers to wander outside their home courses. And on those lousy weekends when we were stuck inside, the golf on television was considered must-see. Yes, that's right, big-name players used to play in what is now considered third-rate events. Heck, before Tiger was Masters champion Tiger, even he played in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Sadly though, those days are long gone. No need to round up the usual suspects, as Bogart would say- it does not require much thought as to where to lay the blame for the amateur's game's plight. Tiger has given every tank-top-wearing, cellphone-blabbing hack the idea that even they can golf. Next time you are stuck on the 7th tee after two hours on a Sunday morning, take a look around. How many people look like they were golfers ten years ago? See that guy with his hat on backwards? I'd bet you a drink at the turn he hasn't fixed a ball mark in his life. How about that moron in the cut-off jeans? What's more annoying- his attire, the five empty Miller Lite cans falling out of his cart, or that he is waiting for the people to clear the green 300-yards ahead?!

Sure, there's a simple solution to this, but I'm afraid that I cannot afford to join a country club. And based on the numbers I see on the public links, I'm just guessing that I'm not the only one. Maybe football season will keep some of them home because the PGA Tour certainly won't. No, the A-list players are too busy playing for guaranteed money in some polysyllabic Third-World country.

Maybe I will have the money to join my exclusive country club once I crack into my first career choice, Golf Course Architecture. What could be better than getting paid to design golf courses? After all, I have about 20 of them in my high school English notebook anyway. There is one major problem, however. I never played on the Tour. You see, when players aren't busy signing their enormous winner's checks, they have to find other ways to make money by using their names. That's right, they're all becoming Golf Course Architects. Snap a few pictures of Ben Crenshaw holding a map and pointing to a bunker, and voila! A new firm is born! Seems the demand for golf courses that Tiger has created has spawned countless of these firms, each one more difficult to find a job in than the one before.

I realize that it is unfair to heap all this blame onto Tiger's lap, but it has to land somewhere. I can honestly say that I fully appreciate the privilege (make no mistake- that's what it is) of seeing the greatest golfer of all time. But I am equally disgusted when I have to turn off the US Open when Tiger is up by ten strokes, and I cannot get a tee time at the muni because some guy wearing sandals got it.