It's no shocker to anyone that professional golf suffers without Tiger Woods playing. He brings in bigger crowds, larger purses, and higher ratings. When he is absent from PGA Tour events, ticket sales and viewers fall. In these tough economic times, it is harder than ever to secure sponsors for events. Tiger is, arguably, the only superstar in a sport that is driven by star power. Without him, both the PGA and European Tours have to look towards the next level of stars to bring in fans.
Last week at the Bob Hope Classic we saw a field where Tim Clark was the highest ranked player. He is 34th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Clark is not exactly a top-tier player, and certainly not a player with enough star power to bring in the fans. You could argue that former Masters winner Mike Weir was the biggest star in the field, but he still will not bring in fans and viewers that the PGA Tour is hoping to show at events.
Meanwhile, across the pond, the field at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship was stacked. Hell, the final threesome, composed of Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, and Ian Poulter, which brought more high-profile names to the table than the entire field at the Bob Hope. Not to mention the fact that their combined OWGR are still lower than Clark's. In total, thirteen players in this tournament were ranked higher than Clark.
This week we will see the Farmer's Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. For years, this had been the Buick Invitational, but thanks to the bankruptcy of the car company, tournament officials had to scramble to find a new sponsor at a reduced rate. The only player ranked in the top ten of the OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) will be Phil Mickelson. Aside from Mickelson (aka Lefty), Robert Allenby and Ernie Els are the only players in the top 20.
Once again, over in the Middle East at the Qatar Master, five players in the top ten and nine players in the top 20 will be in the field. This includes Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Poulter, and even Kenny Perry. This field easily outshines that of the Farmer's Insurance Open, even with Lefty in attendance.
For years, the PGA Tour has been the top dog in the golf world. It still is today, but the death grip it has had on the top players is no longer tight. Large purses, more competitive fields, and and the worldwide spreading of golf have changed the structure of professional golf. As we have seen these past couple weeks, the top golfers are not confined to the PGA Tour. More Europeans grace the world's top 10 than Americans do at this point. Many of the top European Tour players also have dual membership on the PGA Tour (see: McIlroy, Stenson), but others like Westwood do not.
With Tiger Woods gone, both Tours are going to need these players need to step up and become stars. Players like Garcia, Padraig Harrington, and Mickelson are already established stars, but they need to consistently win and be in the hunt for wins to keep fans interested. The one great thing about Woods is that he is nearly always in contention and he obviously wins a lot. Today we have rising young players like McIlroy, Kaymer, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Chris Wood, and others who are making a name for themselves. Kaymer has risen to number six in the world and McIlroy was in the top ten at the age of 20. These young guns are going to be here for awhile and they are proving that, despite their age, they are going to compete and they are going to win. But only time will tell if they will be able to bring fans like Woods.
The PGA Tour is still the the main circuit in the golf world and will still have the strongest fields, top to bottom, in the coming years. What we will see, though, is the top players in the world will no longer stick with just the PGA Tour. We will see the top echelon of the fields filled with varying levels of players as a result, with the Euro Tour winning out some weeks and the PGA winning out others. Until Tiger Woods comes back and the tournaments he enters reign supreme, regardless of the overall strength of the field, both the PGA and European Tours will hope that new stars will rise and that the fan bases will remain strong as golf spreads across the globe.
- Drew Tocco - RotoKingdom Staff Writer
Drew Tocco, aka Tocs, is an avid golfer out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated with a degree in Public Relations in 2009 and is currently trying to break into the sports PR industry. He is a fan of all Detroit sports and hopes to one day work for the Detroit Tigers. He has been with RotoKingdom since 2007 and is currently moderator of the golf section with Shadowboy0387.