Only legends can put legends into perspective. So it isn’t surprising Hank Aaron was the first to mention all of this to me about Woods.
In case you’re wondering, Aaron did so 10 years ago.
“I don’t know of anybody who would be better,” Aaron told me back then, when Woods showed no signs of stopping what he began just before the turn of the century, which was producing golf enthusiasts at a crazy pace.
Consider, too, that Aaron has a bronze plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame after slamming 755 home runs along the way to a slew of records, and he’s a lifetime Cleveland Browns fan. Even so, he placed Woods ahead of that running back icon of the Browns from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s when it comes to athletes dominating their sport.
Yep, THAT guy.
Months later, Woods captured the 2008 U.S. Open on one leg courtesy of his various aches and pain. Then came his slide due to the physical and to the mental, resulting from several highly publicized personal issues. Even though members of the old gang remained (Phil Mickelson, Vijay Sing, Ernie Els) and the new ones were coming (Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler), they weren’t Tiger. For verification, you had the end of last week, when everybody in the universe was allowed to watch golf again. And get this: It wasn’t even a real tournament, but Eldrick Tont Woods was there.
He was joined by 17 other golfers in Nassau, Bahamas, for an exhibition called the Hero World Challenge. Many were among the world’s top-ranked players, including Justin Thomas, the FedEx Cup champion and the PGA Player of the Year after five victories that was highlighted by the PGA Championship. As for Tiger, well, he has 14 major titles, and he owns the record for most weeks ranked No. 1 at 683 overall (including every week from June 12, 2005 through Oct. 30, 2010), but he began this tournament at No. 1,199.
Although Woods couldn’t keep the bogeys away on Saturday, his 75 didn’t lose many viewers, and he rewarded their patience with a closing 68. Not only was Tiger back, but so were the television ratings. According to the Golf Channel, there were 29 percent more folks watching the Hero tournament this season compared to last. Why? Well, it’s the same reason NBC reported the 22.4 million minutes streamed this time was second only on their network this year to the British Open.
Just like the good old days for golf. They started after 21-year-old Woods destroyed the field so much to capture the 1997 Masters that the traditionalists in charge of the green jackets around Augusta National attempted to Tiger proof their place. It didn’t work, with Woods winning the Masters three more times over the next seven years, and much of the public couldn’t care less about the game’s loss of parity. Courses were built in record numbers to accommodate those who suddenly got Tiger/golf fever.
Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson were the George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincolns of the sport in terms of name recognition. Arnold Palmer had his army, and Gary Player remains with Jack Nicklaus as icons for the ages. None were this powerful regarding their sport: 10. Before Woods came along with his first Masters victory in 1997, that’s how many golfers made $7 million during their careers. According to Golf Digest, that figure grew to 218 by the end of last year, and 157 golfers reached more than $10 million. The magazine cited soaring revenue at PGA events created just by Tiger flashing his famous teeth between fists pumps. In contrast, here’s another number: 800.Bloomberg Businessweek magazine said that’s approximately how many golf courses have closed over the past decade. You know, about the time Woods began his decline from invincibility. Just within the past couple of years, Nike announced it would stop making golf clubs, and who was its most famous customer? Uh-huh. There also is the research from the National Golf Foundation that shows participation in the sport has declined 20 percent per year since the early 2000s.
OK, Serena IS women’s tennis, but she isn’t Tiger.
Nobody is.
That’s my bigger point.
Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time. He has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years.
Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur career, Woods was 20 years old when he turned professional at the end of the summer in 1996. By April 1997, he had already won three PGA tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters. Woods won this tournament by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance and pocketed $486,000. He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 weeks).
Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record eleven times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, where he trails only Jack Nicklaus who leads with 18, and 79 PGA Tour events, second all-time behind Sam Snead, who had 82 wins. Woods leads all active golfers in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999. Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship.
