Posted on 10/11/2006 11:52:00 AM PDT by wagglebee
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Technology, money and Tiger Woods are hurting golf, according to two-time British Open winner Greg Norman.
The Australian, who is playing in this week's Spanish Senior Open, said Tuesday that golf will be in major trouble if the U.S. PGA Tour doesn't manage the sport more carefully. "With fewer and fewer people watching golf in America, the sport has become stagnant," Norman said.
Some U.S. tour events this year reportedly saw significant declines in American television viewership from 2005, such as a 56 percent drop for the Bob Hope Classic, a 50 percent decline for the season-opening Mercedes Championship and a 37.5 percent drop for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Some analysts have said that Woods being in contention is a major factor in ratings, such as the 22 percent increase in August for the final round of his U.S. PGA Championship victory, but ratings when he successfully defended his title at Doral were still off by 16 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
From a business/ratings standpoint, professional golf seemed to reach the peak of its popularity back in the late 1990s -- and I suspect it's been in decline ever since.
The New York area newspapers used to have stories back then about people who would get up at the crack of dawn -- or even sleep in their cars in the parking lot -- to get a good weekend tee time at public courses. I don't hear stories like that anymore.
I read this and started choking.
Must have a greg norman in my throat?
That fool needs to shut up, as everyone knows that cablinasian viewership is up 1000%
Another reason for the ratings decline in those early season events: we had a record warm winter in the northern US last winter, so more people were out doing other things.
All that's happening is Tigermania is wearing off. Compare todays numbers against tourneys BEFORE Tiger came on the scene.
Taking nothing away from Tiger, but golf's popularity took the biggest boost ever 50 years ago with Arnie Palmer followed by Nicklaus, Travino and Player gunning it out every week for one championship or another. They were all highly talented, but also personable, approachable, down to earth guys who made people feel that golf was not simply a "rich man's" sport.
That is when the golf took off in both the public imagination and in actual numbers of people who took up the game. Their personalities caused purses to rise to the point where guys today who never win a tournament can become millionaires.
Tiger has been good for the sport, but I have to disagree that he contributed as much as those players from the mid 50s through 60s did.
Sour grapes Greg?
I wonder what the attendance numbers for most of these tournaments are. I'd wager they are much higher today than when Norman was playing on the tour. And that is because of Tiger.
Since January 20, 2001 they have been reluctant to admit that people can actually afford to play golf.
Of course Tiger isn't the huge draw that he was a decade ago, but that's not unusual. Someone else will come along. Golf went through the end of the 70's, all of the 80's and most of the 90's without a dominant player who "drew" interest to the sport the way Palmer and Nicklaus had in the past, and then Tiger came along in 1997 and changed everything. Sometime in the future, the next one will come along.
Where are the pictures of his wife?
Tiger has a big-time profanity problem. That is a big turnoff for me and many others.
The only thing that went stagnant was Bubba Clinton after he fell off of Greg Norman's Florida porch thereby slowing his skirt chasing to a crawl(at least I think Norman was the golfer who hosted Bubba?).
"Players need to bring the spirit back," Norman said. "There have always been great players to bring people to the game to lighten it up so that it's not so serious.
"Look at what (Rafael) Nadal has done for tennis because of the way he is, like a boxer. You never hear anyone coming out and saying I want to beat Tiger Woods - I haven't heard that," Norman added. "Nadal comes out and says he wants to beat Roger Federer because he's No. 1 and that's great for tennis."
Looks to me that he's saying that the rest of the field needs to step it up a notch or two, not that Tiger is bad for the sport.
See what I wrote in 27. I don't think that Tiger is any "bigger" than Arnie or Jack were in their days, but there was a long period of time when golf didn't have a "superstar" to capture public attention. And you're right, the guys like Palmer and Nicklaus proved that it wasn't a rich man's game, but I think everyone was amazed that someone would come along and immediately prove to the world that it wasn't just a "white man's" game either.
Greg Norman, like his old pal, Bill Clinton, is one of the luckiest SOBs on the planet. He's also a major whiner.
The most boring channel on cable is the Golf Channel.
America has a profanity problem. It doesn't belong to Tiger alone. And if you aren't used to the "F" word by now...
Are the only ways to measure success related to TV ratings and double digit growth?
Living in Florida and being an avid golfer myself, I wish a few more people would quit the game. Maybe TV ratings are down because people are out playing it instead of sitting on their asses watching it.
Where does Norman blame Tiger?
Technology, money and Tiger Woods are hurting golf, according to two-time British Open winner Greg Norman.
Norman lost credibility with me when he started palling around (or whatever they did) with Bubba. You are judged by the company you keep -- hang around with a whore-hound and you get -- well you know.
Sheez. I think golf is stagnant while I am watching.
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