At times, you forget just how influential Tiger Woods is in the golf world. Our big realization happened in 2008, when Woods went under the knife after his incredible victory at the U.S. Open and most golf fans forgot to watch the PGA Championship and British Open. While I'm a huge golf fan, I had a hard time blaming them; without Woods it just isn't nearly as interesting. This week, at his own tournament, the AT&T National, Woods teed it up for the second time after skipping '08 because of continued problems with the knee. Anthony Kim won it last year, which was great for the sport in itself, but still wasn't going to bring in the viewers Woods does. That isn't a knock to AK, he just isn't Tiger and probably never will be.
Tiger took the crown this year, and if you're wondering how influential Tiger is to a tournament, CBS reported that the ratings tripled what they did at the AT&T last year. Triple!
CBS said on Monday that Sunday's final round of the tournament Woods hosts earned a 4.6 rating and 11 share, up from the 1.5/3 a year ago.Also, it should be noted that this high rating happened on a weekend with most people out of town, enjoying the holiday. It wasn't like this was middle of winter when sports fans have nothing better to do than sit around with blankets and see if someone can take out someone else. It should also be noted that this came on the heels of a Wimbledon final that lasted north of four hours, so some would think most sports fans had their fill for the entire day.
It was the highest rating for a non-major on CBS since the Buick Invitational in January 2008, which Woods also won.
It's just tremendous what Tiger can do for such a golf event. The guy could do a fly-fishing special and 20 million people would be glued to their TVs (And, that special would probably be in high definition, as opposed to the British in two weeks).
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
While there is no denying Tiger's influence on the viewership, you have to keep this tournament in context to fully understand the results--Tiger is coming off a very disappointing showing at the last major, and the rumor mill has been working overtime about the reasons for his play. A lot of the viewers were probably tuning in just to make sure that the "earth was still spinning in the right direction", so to speak--to see Tiger back on his game. I'm sure the numbers still would've been high, but I doubt they would've hit those heights if Tiger's last outing was a typical domination.
Why on earth would we want 20 million more flyfishers on our already crowded streams? I know why tackle manufacturers and retailers would be ecstatic to have these additional anglers, but I don't think those who already enjoy the sport would welcome them.
Marty, I think the streams are safe, just as the local golf courses are. People wouldn't actually GO OUT and take part in flyfishing--they would sit at home, eating pizza and nachos, and WATCH Tiger flyfishing. Then, of course, they would argue whether Tiger is a better fisherman than Roger Federer is a yodeler.