An average of 7.9 million viewers watched the final two rounds of the 2014 Masters Tournament on television in America – the lowest viewing figure for a Masters weekend since 1993. That was the year Bernhard Langer and Chip Beck first taught me that a Sunday afternoon at Augusta could actually kinda suck. Mind you, this year’s Masters didn’t suck, unless of course your only reason for tuning in was to watch Tiger Woods.
Personally, I’m enjoying Tim Finchem’s personal post-apocalyptic wasteland, aka the Tiger-free 2014 PGA Tour season. Each week throws up new storylines and a fresh cast of characters, including Matt Kuchar’s redemption at Harbour Town, J.B. Holmes averaging 333.9 yards off the tee in winning at Quail Hollow (where Phil Mickelson posted weekend scores of 63-76), and Martin Kaymer’s near-collapse but ultimate salvation at the 71st hole of The Players Championship. Each tournament is mostly covered by CBS, NBC and Sky on its merits, not its personalities. And when I watch the back nine on Sunday, I generally have no idea who is going to win. This is why I like professional sports.
But drama without superstardom apparently doesn’t pay the bills. NBC’s Dan Hicks, analyzing the future of golf in a post-Tiger world, says “I believe we’re in for a correction,” and I’m sure he’s right: to borrow more terminology from capitalism, we’re living in a Tiger Bubble, and when he retires or permanently fades into obsolescence, that bubble will pop unless a new Tiger comes along. And with all due respect to Nicklaus’ skills and Palmer’s persona, there has only ever been one Tiger Woods. So in the near future, might the PGA Tour’s current financial model look unsustainable? Can there be a FedEx Cup without a FedEx? Will purses and TV contracts start shrinking instead of continually expanding?
As a consumer of the Tour’s weekly product, I’m not saying these would be bad things – quite the opposite, actually. However, if you’re the PGA Tour commissioner, Tiger’s backache is giving you headaches. The NBA succeeded in building a personality-driven sports league: Magic, Michael, Shaq, Kobe and LeBron are all household first names. But although you and I may know who Phil, Rory and Bubba are, most sports fans apparently do not – or if they do, they don’t care. Plus, golf as a whole seems to have been broadly in a state of slow decline for several years. Are falling participation rates directly linked to the state of the economy, or are more fundamental forces – possibly including Tiger’s inability to sustain his dominance by winning any majors in the last five years – at work?
Tiger will return to the Tour at some point this year. Before he retires he’ll win more tournaments, probably win more majors, maybe make a Nicklaus-in-’86-like run at the Masters in his dotage, and continue to suck every last drop of oxygen out of the press tent wherever and whenever he plays. But soon enough – and very possibly sooner than you think, given the essential incompatibility of bad backs and good golf – the Tiger Era will end, and professional golf will revert to its unevolved, pre-1997 state. What might that look like? Turn on Sky Sports 4 any Saturday or Sunday evening before Tiger feels better and find out.