Tiger Woods Saves Golf

I grew up living in a community that was centered around a golf course, in a family that loved to golf. So I was more than likely going to grow up golfing, but I believe I owe much of my passion for the game to Eldrick Woods, better known as Tiger.

Before I started playing golf regularly, I would go out onto the 6^th fairway and pretend that I was Tiger Woods. Prior to Tiger Woods, golf relied on names like Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman to try to sell the game. I don't want to take away anything from these amazing players, but they all lacked one thing...the ability to sell the game of golf to a younger generation. Without getting a younger generation to golf, the game would eventually die out.

I have worked at a golf course every summer for the last 12 years. I have seen the demographics of our course change dramatically. This course has changed from an older crowd, who would idealize Jack Nicklaus to a younger crowd that idealizes Tiger Woods.

Why does Tiger Woods have such an effect on the younger crowd? His influence started when he was able to defeat the more experienced golfers at such a young age. At the 1997 Masters Tiger shot a tournament record 18 under while the closest competitor came in at 6 under. This amazing feat was accomplished when Tiger was 21 years old. To top that, three years later at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Tiger Woods won the tournament by a total of 15 strokes. Tiger finished as the only player below par (-12) while second place finished at +3.

These amazing performances paved the way for Tiger to influence the game of golf and help to improve its image with younger fans. The way that he carries himself, his personality, the way he dresses, his "hip" persona and many other factors along with his success has been the reason for Tiger's influence over the game of golf.

We can thank Tiger for the leaps and bounds the game of golf has taken among the middle and younger classes. Tiger has opened up the popularity of the game and has made it more of a "common" man's sport. Golf courses all over the country (and possibly the world) can thank much of their success on Tiger's success.

So the next time you are out playing on your favorite course, enjoying the great beauty of the outdoors and relishing one of the greatest games ever invented, you might just want to give a quick thanks to Tiger Wood's. It is very possible that you might not even want to play this sport if it wasn't for what Tiger has shown you.

Sources:

Wikipedia, "2000 US Open Golf Championship,"
Wikipedia, "1997 Masters Tournament"