The Tiger Effect
If the prompt on family feud was “What is the most boring sport to watch on TV?” I guarantee the survey would say Golf as the number one answer. Golf has always been known as a gentleman’s game. It’s a game of class, fancy apparel, and high class participants. Many people love going out and golfing themselves, yet when it comes to actually watching the sport on TV it is can be a snooze fest. HOWEVER! There is one man in golf that instantly brings worldwide attention to the sport. This man goes by the name of Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods has had one of the greatest Golf careers of all time. Tiger Woods has won 14 Major tournaments, 80 PGA tour wins, and is arguably the most talented golfer of all time. However this great story of the what could be the greatest golfer of all time is not all sunshine and roses. Tiger has went through a portion of his career where he was destroyed by the media. In 2009 Tiger was exposed to having an affair with his wife with countless women, and was also charged with a DUI. The media tore Tiger apart for these actions. So much so he had to have a press conference to address the media and apology for his actions IN HIS OWN MARRIAGE! This took a big hit on not only his golf career but also all of his endorsements. Tiger had officially been labeled a really bad dude, and the media gets all the credit. Tiger then began to have back problems and between the years of 2014 and 2017 Tiger only played in 19 tournaments. This number is crazy low many Pro golfers play 19 tournaments in a year. Tiger Was at the bottom, and along with this golf was at the bottom.
It seems that the sport of golf goes as Tiger goes. When tiger was playing like the best player of all time golf was thriving in ratings. However when Tiger is off the map, golf has no identity and suffers. In 2018 Tiger was finally ready for a comeback. He was healthier than ever, and was ready to take on a full season. Tiger single handedly put golf back on the map in 2018. In the PGA Championship at Bellerive in St Louis MO, Tiger was not only playing, he was playing well. On Sunday Tiger had a share of the lead and it was obvious that it was going to be going down to the wire. The ratings from the previous PGA championship raised 54 percent. This is being called the Tiger Effect! Tiger would end up getting 2nd at the championship, however the story that the media was running with was “TIGER IS BACK”.
The media did not only almost single handedly destroy the career of arguably the greatest golfer of all time, but now they are portraying tiger as this hero who came back from adversity. The effect that Tiger Woods has on golf is greater than any other athlete has had on their sport. When ratings are raised by 54 percent due to the participation of a single athlete, it is obvious people are intrigued by that athlete more than the sport. The media has had a direct effect on the career of Tiger Woods. In the year of 2018 Tiger has almost all his endorsements that he had in the past, and is now being portrayed in a superhero, comeback story that everyone is cheering for. This is a movie in the making, and the Media has been writing the script.
