Bleacher Report - PGA

What Will Change for Tiger Woods?

Michael Fitzpatrick — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:02:03 -0500

Tiger Woods’ image has been tainted—there’s absolutely no question about that.

He has spent the last 13 years creating and nurturing an image that portrays him as a champion athlete, a model husband, and an ordinary family man.

Exactly six days ago a fire hydrant caused it all to come crashing down on his head, both literally and figuratively speaking, and there's no to blame but himself.

He will be viewed differently by many folks for weeks and months to come.

However, although both the mainstream and tabloid media are speaking as if they are preparing to attend a wake, very little is likely to change in the long run.

Sure, he may be sleeping on the couch for the next two months.

He may need to have his lawyers review whatever prenup he has in place just to make sure that it is indeed airtight, which will in turn allow him to sleep a little better out on that uncomfortable couch.

He may look into purchasing a large steel safe to house his golf clubs and ensure that no one else other than he has access to the key.

He may also have to get used to cameras not only following his every move on the golf course, but also following him at airports, at the beach, as he comes and goes from his private Isleworth Estate, etc.

But other than that, not much else will change for Tiger Woods in the long run.

First off, his sponsors are not going anywhere.

Why?

Well, there are three reasons for that.

One: They don’t want to risk any of their competitors picking up Tiger Woods.

Example: Nike drops Tiger Woods, and Titleist immediately hands him a $100 million contract. Woods wins three majors in 2010 (which isn’t that far-fetched considering that he has already won major championships at three of the four venues that will host the 2010 majors).

Titleist then comes out with a massive television, print, and Internet campaign with Tiger Woods essentially saying, “I switched my equipment and had one of the best years of my career; maybe you should do the same.”

That is Nike’s worst nightmare and is why they will NEVER jump ship from the Tiger Woods Brand.

Two: These companies are paying for success just as much as they are personality.

Example: Accenture drops Woods, and IBM Consulting immediately picks him up. Accenture still wants to be involved in golf because their target market is wealthy CEOs and top-level executives who gravitate towards golf more than any other sport. So, the pick up Steve Stricker instead—a good, Midwestern family man who is also one of the top golfers in the world.

Accenture then has to sit by and watch Tiger Woods mop up the course with Stricker at next year’s U.S. Open...all while wearing a shirt with a large IBM Consulting logo on it.

Would you really want to hire a consulting firm that put themselves in a situation where their "new" guy is being pummeled on national television by the guy they decided to let go?

Three: They know that these things always blow over, and they want to be there to reap the benefits when it does.

Example: Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Michael Jordan, David Beckham—all went through embarrassing scandals.

Where are they now?

Exactly where they were prior to those embarrassing scandals.

Our attention spans apparently cease to grow the moment we leave the fifth grade. This too will eventually blow over; it always has and always will.

Conclusion

Yes, Woods’ sponsors may not be happy with him at this very moment, but the risk of them jumping ship far outweighs the risks involved with continuing to make him their company spokesman.

Secondly, will Woods continue to dominate the PGA Tour?

Of course he will.

The guy won the U.S. Open while playing on a broken leg. Do you really think some personal issues will get in the way of him chasing down the records that he’s devoted his entire life to breaking?

Sure, the mental game is a huge part of golf, and any chips in a golfer’s mental armor can be extremely detrimental.

However, Woods has always had an uncanny ability to compartmentalize his life, perhaps better than any other modern athlete.

If you’ve ever seen Woods on a golf course, you’ll know that it looks as if he doesn’t even know that there are massive crowds lining the fairways of every single hole he plays. He doesn’t seem to know that there are others playing alongside of him, or that television cameras are beaming out his every move to the entire world.

If there really is such a thing as "the zone," Tiger Woods seems to have the ability to move in and out of it at will.

Yes, this is an embarrassing incident that might carry with it some mental scarring, but don’t expect Woods do anything else other than what he’s always done once inside the ropes—block out everything other than golf.

Third, will he lose any fans?

Here in America, when it comes to sports and entertainment, we love three things more than anything else.

1) We love creating heroes.

2) We love to see our heroes fall from grace.

3) We love a good comeback story.

Woods’ fans may be disappointed.

His younger fans may come home from school today and ask their parents what “transgression” means.

A member of an elite country club might not want to be seen wearing his Tiger Woods cap for a little while.

But the thing is, most have followed Tiger Woods’ career for one reason and one reason only—he has been the most dominant player to ever picked up a golf club, and that is unlikely to change.

At the end of the day, the obscure chance that we might see greatness is the real reason why we turn on the television to watch Tiger Woods.

We see ordinary things like car accidents, affairs, divorces, etc. in our everyday lives.

We don’t, however, see a guy hit a 212-yard five-iron out of the bunker to a back-right pin location with a lake lining the right side of the green while the tournament is on the line.

We don’t often watch a man win the U.S. Open while playing on a broken leg.

We don’t often see a guy sink tournament-winning putts 99.9 percent of the time he finds himself looking over a tournament-winning putt.

Whether he hit a fire hydrant, had an affair, had multiple affairs, or tried to cover up his affairs is irrelevant because it ultimately has no bearing on why we really tune in each week to watch Tiger Woods play golf.

You see, at this very moment, sponsors, fans, and the entire golf world may be disappointed with Tiger Woods.

But at the end of the day, we will all gravitate back to him because his marriage, his driving skills, and his PR savviness are not why people sponsor, follow, or cheer for Tiger Woods.

Our interest in Tiger Woods rests on a single principle—we want to watch the most dominant golfer in the history of the game play golf.

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What the Tiger Woods Incident Can Teach Us About Our Society

Michael Fitzpatrick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:43:39 -0500

Why do we really want Tiger Woods to come clean?

We’ve all read the numerous articles virtually begging Tiger Woods to come clean, but why?

What is really fueling our desire to find out exactly what happened outside of Tiger Woods’ private home at 2:30 am last Friday morning?

Are we concerned that he’s gotten away with a crime?

Not likely.

He hit a fire hydrant and a tree on private property. The only person injured in the incident was Tiger Woods (the fire hydrant got banged up to). In fact, the police have already issued him a citation for careless driving and closed the case.

So legally speaking, it’s a done, finished, finito. The exact same punishment would have been handed down to any one of us had we been in the same situation.

Are we concerned that he’s making a huge PR mistake and that his sponsors might jump ship?

Well, no. First of all, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will lose any sleep over whether or not Tiger Woods’ sponsors decide to drop him.

Second of all, his sponsors have already publicly affirmed that the statement Woods released through his website was good enough for them.

In fact, just this week, Bank of America decided to pursue a larger role in the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Sounds like this whole incident has really rattled the world of corporate sponsorships...not really.

Are we angry that we bought that $6 bottle of Gillette shaving cream because Tiger Woods promoted it and now we feel as if we deserve answers from him?

If that’s the case, you might want to seek some professional help.

Let’s be completely honest here. No one is going to go out tomorrow and purchase Old Spice shaving cream instead of Gillette just because Tiger Woods won’t tell us why he crashed into a fire hydrant.

Are we angry because we spent $30,000 on a Buick Enclave last year because we thought Tiger Woods drove the same car and now we feel entitled to know what happened outside his house at 2:30 am last Friday?

Once again…the professional help thing might be looking pretty good if that’s the case.

The fact of the matter is that Tiger Woods hurt no one but himself—and a fire hydrant— during the car accident. He did not commit a crime other than careless driving, which he has been issued a citation for. His sponsors have publicly stated their support for Woods and the way in which he handled the situation. Even a new sponsor has decided to come on board with the Tiger Woods Brand since the incident took place.

So, why does he need to come clean?

Well, the answer to that question is simple.

It’s the same reason why when we overhear a couple arguing on the train, we can’t help but eavesdrop.

It's the same reason why when Nick Lachhey and Jessica Simpson allowed cameras into their home, Newlyweds became one of the most successful shows in MTV history.

It’s the same reason why US Weekly and People Magazine are two of the best selling magazines in the country.

It’s the same reason why every single night at around dinner time channels two, four, five, and seven are airing celebrity gossip shows such as Entertainment Tonight , Entertainment Weekly, and E! News .

The reason is because we, the public, are nosey.

It's plain and simple.

No one ever wants to be painted with the "nosey" brush; our society typically views it as a negative trait. Yet our intense desire to know what happened outside of Tiger Woods’ home at 2:30 am last Friday is what is ultimately fueling all the talk about how “Tiger needs to come clean” and “Tiger needs to tell everyone what happened.”

It’s for no reason other than we are just desperate to know.

Now, not to rain on anyone’s gossip parade, but there are only two people who truly know what went down last Friday—Tiger Woods and his wife—and neither of them are going to be sitting for a tell all interview anytime soon.

So, as much as it rips at our gossip seeking guts, it is unlikely that Tiger, his wife, or anyone else will decide to feed the wolves on this occasion.

Love it, hate it, or never really cared about the story in the first place, it makes no bit of difference.

No amount of interest, curiosity, or nosiness is going to change a thing.

His current sponsors aren’t going anywhere. New sponsors will continue jumping on board the "Tiger Woods brand," he’ll continue winning golf tournaments, and six years from now he’ll probably be worth $2 billion.

As sports' most popular saying goes—it is what it is.

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Tiger Woods Crashes Into a Tree and Now He's Stuck In One

Andrew Nuschler — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:35:47 -0500

Hey, did you hear Tiger Woods crashed his Escalade over the holiday weekend?

Any shred of doubt as to who the most influential professional athlete on Planet Earth is should be gone. The best golfer on the globe demands so much attention that the attention is a story.

Whoa.

It's gotten to the point that even non-fans are being pushed into his orbit (nature never sucks).

I've yet to watch a round of golf in which I wasn't participating. Furthermore, I don't particularly care about Woods and never have since my college days when his former pledge brothers told me enough genuine stories about the dude to confirm the only thing that rivals his prodigious talent is his equally monumental ego.

A boring spectator sport being dominated by an astoundingly self-centered, petulant adult-brat? Thanks, but no thanks.

This gated-community fiasco is a whole different cup o' tea, though. It's a legitimate news story partially because of what Tiger Woods represents and partially because of his arrogant attempt at deception.

The minute Eldrick's official statement was released and digested, Woods himself ensured that this story would have legs for miles and miles.

You can't call the rumors flying around the traditional media/blogosphere "unfounded," malicious," and "irresponsible." You can't say, "[m]y family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be."

You can't try to shift the crosshairs onto the clamoring horde.

Not when you're a married father of two linked to some club-hopping hussy who appears to have more boobs than brains. Not when the official story explaining an accident in the wee hours of Thanksgiving involves a semi-conscious, 200-pound body being dragged out of a crashed luxury utility vehicle by a 110-pound ex-supermodel. Not when she allegedly knocked out TWO windows to do it.

I mean, has Elin Nordegren suffered brain trauma in her past?

What made her so crazed she would run around the large vehicle smashing out windows with a golf club? Did she think the car was going to explode? Why would she have this sense of extreme urgency over an accident so mild the airbags didn't deploy?

This is not a reasonable narrative.

The firestorm could've been avoided by a simple "no comment" initially—after all, it's not a criminal matter so nobody was ever entitled to an explanation. At that point, it was a private matter deserving of respect.

Contrary to what some commentators think, Tiger Woods isn't pulling some special trick by refusing to speak with the police. Nobody—not you, not me, not Joe Six-Pack—must answer to the police while in his/her own home absent a warrant supported by probable cause or some exception to the requirement.

That's the Fourth Amendment, baby, and it applies no matter how much money you have nor how big your home is. Until the police choose to create one by making it a formal investigation, there is simply no imperative on anyone to fess up.

Consequently, Woods still has no legal obligation to speak on the matter.

But the first attempt to avoid all embarrassment changed the situation and made it exponentially worse. Now, Tiger has joined the fray and seems to be using a bit of the ol' "the best defense is a good offense" approach.

In so doing, he's let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

It's one thing to be a worldly talent, pimping shiny baubles on every airwave. To be that guy and get your tail caught in the wringer. Sadly, the general public has seen this enough for the charade to have become tedious.

Lying to the masses and then haughtily handing out judgment when your tall-tales aren't swallowed is another thing altogether.

The people always have an appetite to see that kind of hypocrisy punished.

Which means, whether Tiger Woods likes it or not, he's got some 'splaining to do. Sooner or later.

And the longer he waits, the harder it gets.

**www.pva.org**

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Why Everyone Wants Tiger Woods to Come Clean, and Why He Won't

Michael Fitzpatrick — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:42:18 -0500

“Tiger Woods needs to come clean.”

“Tiger Woods needs to explain exactly what happened on Friday morning and set the record straight.”

“Tiger Woods needs to explain everything right now.”

These are all phrases that you will see written in virtually every article about Tiger Woods and the incident that took place outside of his home at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

But what you have to understand is that the general public, along with the many journalists who are taking this point of view, are not doing so without bias.

Tiger Woods doesn’t need to do anything.

On the contrary. We, the public, as well as the media, are desperately hoping for Woods to come clean and explain everything. It would provide a very entertaining story, and, at the end of the day, entertainment is what everyone is really after here.

No one cares about how Woods’ car managed to roll over a fire hydrant, or what hospital he was taken to, or the extent of his injuries.

Nope—we are concerned with one thing and one thing only: Was his wife, Elin, chasing him down with a 5-iron at the time of the accident?

From a public standpoint, we all want the juicy details of exactly what went down on Friday morning.

However, let’s just for a moment step back and explore the big picture from a PR standpoint.

What is more interesting and entertaining, staring at a blank wall or watching television?

Right now, Tiger Woods is the equivalent of staring at a wall.

There is a complete lack of information coming out of the Woods' camp, and there is unlikely to be any further information released anytime soon, if at all.

We also now know that Woods is not legally required to speak with the police. All he is required to do is hand over his license, registration, and insurance information, which he did yesterday afternoon through his lawyer.

So, if you have had any aspiration of reading all the juicy details in a police report, think again.

Considering the fact that he was in and out of consciousness for at least six minutes immediately following the accident, it’s safe to say that Woods probably suffered a concussion and will not attend his tournament—The Chevron World Challenge—this week.

That basically means that we will not see or hear from Woods until he shows up at Torrey Pines in late January for the former Buick Invitational (now the Century Club of San Diego Invitational).

Can you remember the "big news" from two months ago?

That makes two of us.

And many of those stories two months ago would have certainly been viewed as HUGE news at the time.

When Woods shows up at Torrey Pines in two months, he will respond to questions with well-rehearsed, detail-less answers...once again, the equivalent of staring at a blank wall.

Woods lives in an airtight cocoon that he has spent years constructing to insulate and protect himself from the outside world.

This cocoon is unlikely to crack or spring a leak any time soon.

So, he has two choices.

He can come completely clean about what might be a very embarrassing truth, or he can turn himself into a blank wall.

We, the public, would love nothing more than for him to come clean. It would give us something interesting to read and follow.

When people read newspaper articles, Internet articles, or watch news reports on the "Tiger Woods incident," they do so because they are after some new information that may provide them with some form of entertainment.

How entertaining is it going to be to read articles for the next two months that say, “nothing further from the Woods camp” or “Tiger Woods was not seen again today.”

That’s not interesting, nor is it entertaining. It is, in essence, the equivalent of staring at a blank wall.

And as we all know, people will eventually get bored of staring at a wall, and decide to turn on the television and see what else is going on.

Maybe Woods is hiding something; maybe he isn’t. Needless to say, there are some not-so-small question marks surrounding the initial "accident" story.

But, whatever the case, it’s unlikely that he will provide us with the information we’re all so desperately craving, and that often frustrates the heck out of the media and the general public.

Woods is creating a nightmare scenario for the media and general public; he’s not giving us exactly what we want.

But are you prepared to stare at a blank wall for the next two months?

Me neither.

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Why the World Is Obsessed with the Tiger Woods Story

Michael Fitzpatrick — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:37:53 -0500

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves.

The moment we heard the incorrect, and downright reckless news reports that Tiger Woods was in "serious" condition after being involved in a car accident outside of his Windermere, Fla., home, three questions immediately came to mind.

1) Will he be okay?

2) Will he play golf again?

3) Will any of his injuries affect his ability to play golf at the same high level?

The first question was a natural response to hearing about any tragic incident. Believe it or not, most human beings are still at least somewhat concerned with the well-being of others, even those they do not know personally.

However, this initial instinctive response quickly moved toward a more selfish view of the situation.

We were not overly concerned with whether or not Tiger Woods would ever be able to enjoy a game he devoted his entire life to; we were concerned with whether WE would ever again be able to watch him win major championships while witnessing a theatre that no other golfer has ever been able to provide.

We were concerned with whether or not we’d see Tiger at Augusta next June or at next year’s US Open at Pebble Beach where he demolished the field back in 2000, or at the British Open at St. Andrews, where he was won twice already.

The moment we found out that the initial reports about Woods being in "serious" condition where way off base and that he was treated and released from the hospital, our thoughts immediately darted towards a possible scandal.

Where was he heading at 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving night?

How could his wife have carried a 180-pound man out of the car?

How could he have possibly hit a fire hydrant and tree that he’s managed to avoid for the last 10 years?

Why are he and his wife refusing to speak with police?

The story, or lack thereof, has now reached epic proportions.

It’s the National Enquirer meets US Weekly meets ESPN.

If there’s anything we love more than sitcoms and sporting events, it’s watching athletes and celebrities fall from grace.

It makes us feel a little a little better about ourselves and our own lives. We can’t hit a golf ball like Woods, we don’t have $1 billion and a massive house like Woods, we don’t travel in a private jet like Woods, at least we can watch him suffer through an embarrassing situation.

It brings a big smile to our faces.

Come on, how many of you weren’t painted with an ear-to-ear smile upon hearing that A-Rod had used steroids?

How many of you didn’t just love seeing the Giants ruin the Patriots undefeated season back in 2007?

How many of you didn’t laugh hysterically when Steve Phillips admitted to having an affair with an intern?

How many of you didn’t thoroughly enjoy watching David Letterman try to weasel his way out of why someone was trying to extort him?

We love it and we can’t get enough of it.

There’s a reason why the National Enquirer is still going strong after 73 years.

There’s a reason why US Weekly is one of the top-selling magazines in the country.

There’s a reason why “Tiger Woods affair” and “Tiger Woods mistress” are two of the top searched phrases on Google over the past two days.

There’s a reason why at 7 o'clock every night, channel 2, 4, 5 and 7 are filled with celebrity gossip shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Entertainment Weekly, E-News, etc.

And there’s a reason why Tiger Woods is now appearing on the front pages of magazines and web sites whose writers didn’t know a golf ball from a baseball just 72 hours ago.

Who cares about the football games today when we might be able to hear the 911 tapes from Tiger Woods' accident?

Who cares about college basketball when there’s a chance that we might find out why Tiger Woods drove into a fire hydrant early on Friday morning?

It’s a sad, sad world, when most of the general public thoroughly enjoys watching others fall from grace.

Now, I won’t pretend to sit here on my high horse.

I too will be checking the Internet and news stations throughout the day to see if there’s any further information about why Tiger Woods drove into a fire hydrant at 2:30 on Friday morning.

Why?

Because unfortunately that’s just human nature.

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Expecting Details From Tiger Woods? Don't Hold Your Breath

Michael Fitzpatrick — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:40:20 -0500

TMZ.com is now reporting that Tiger Woods’ wife Elin could have been the cause of the facial lacerations he sustained during the early morning hours of Friday, November 27th.

For nearly 24 hours now, reporters from both mainstream and tabloid news outlets have been camping outside of the exclusive Isleworth Community where Woods makes his home in Windermere, Florida.

Articles continue to appear on the front pages of every newspaper and website published in the free world, speculating on what might or might not have gone down at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

Maybe Woods was involved in some kind of a domestic dispute stemming from an article that appeared in the National Enquirer, which accused Woods of having an affair with New York City party girl Rachel Uchitel.

Maybe his wife went all Tonya Harding on him with a golf club during the dispute.

Maybe he was driving under the influence.

Maybe he was having some kind of mental breakdown.

“Woods needs to meet with the press and come clean about everything,” is one popular phrase that has been appearing in many articles.

“Woods needs to make a statement ASAP about what happened on Friday morning,” is another popular one.

Instead of sentences that contain “Woods NEEDS to do this” and “Woods NEEDS to do that,” a more appropriate phrasing should probably be something along the lines of “we the public are desperately hoping that Woods will provide us with some kind of information about what really took place on Friday morning.”

A side effect of this worldwide explosion of the "Tiger Woods story" is that you now have many tabloids, and even sports reporters, attempting to cover this massive story despite their unfamiliarity with Tiger Woods and the game of golf. These are journalists who are not at all familiar with the way in which Tiger Woods operates.

Woods is one of the most private and reclusive athletes on the face of the planet.

He’s spent years building an impenetrable, air-tight cocoon of a few close friends, family, and business associates that know better than to leak any personal information about Woods.

This is the same guy that kept a torn ACL secret for more than nine months and a broken leg secret for the entire week of the 2008 US Open.

Woods would not publicly disclose who he voted for in the last Presidential Election and he rarely, if ever, takes a definitive stance on any controversial issue within the game of golf or sports in general.

No one even knew when Woods was going to return to the PGA Tour in 2009 until the tournament director at the Accenture Match Play Championship received a fax from Woods confirming his intention to play just five days prior to start of the event.

Heck, this guy wouldn’t even let anyone know who he was rooting for in the 2008 NBA Finals between his adopted hometown team, the Orlando Magic and his former hometown team, the Los Angles Lakers.

Do you really think Tiger Woods is going to come out and release a statement detailing everything that went down outside of his house at 2:30am on Friday morning?

It is highly doubtful to say the least.

He may not even release anything more than the very short statement that was posted on his website yesterday afternoon.

If he does release any further information, it will probably be something along the lines of “Tiger Woods was injured during a personal incident that took place at his home in Windermere Florida on Friday, November 27th. His injuries were minor and he is looking forward to hosting and competing in next week’s Chevron World Challenge.”

If Woods decides to attend the Chevron World Challenge next week, he will undoubtedly be bombarded with questions about what took place in the early morning hours of Friday November 27th.

His responses will be well-rehearsed, vague and detail-less, if he even decides to addresses the questions at all.

Woods is a man that holds his personal privacy more sacred than any other aspect of his life, and quite frankly, he could care less whether or not reporters and the public feel as if they have received sufficient information about the incident that took place on Friday morning.

For those of you expecting Woods to come clean on all the juicy details of what went down on Friday morning, or are expecting someone from within his inner circle to spring a leak…you may be waiting a very long time.

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10 Reasons To Be Thankful That You're a Fan of Golf

Michael Fitzpatrick — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:51:58 -0500

Although Thanksgiving should probably be a day of mourning as it pretty much marks the beginning of the end for American Indians, it has somehow become a national holiday where we all get together with our families and celebrate what we are thankful for.

If you’re a golf fan, here are ten reasons you should be thankful.

10. International Competition

Golf is one of the few sports that transcends borders.

Whether you’re in South Dakota or Malaysia, a golf course will never be far and a PGA Tour event will be on television.

Most professional golfers play in tournaments around the world, and there is an international team competition held each year—the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup.

9. It’s an Olympic sport

Baseball, football and several other popular sports are currently not included in the Olympics. Golf has officially been named an Olympic sport beginning at the 2012 games in Rio De Janeiro.

8. Players don’t sit out because they want larger contracts

You won’t see Tiger Woods not playing in the US Open because the purse has been decreased. You won’t see Phil Mickelson forgo the FedEx Cup because he wants the winner to be paid $12 million instead of $10 million.

Just doesn’t happen in golf.

7. No Taunting

I think it might actually be written somewhere in the NFL and NBA rule books that upon dunking a ball, or catching a long pass, you are required to taunt your competition.

Aside from a first pump or two (which is more of a celebratory act anyway), you don’t see much taunting during a professional golf tournament.

6. No whining to rules officials

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James may be the best basketball players in the world, but their also professional whiners. When was the last time you saw Bryant or James miss a layup without immediately darting towards the referee and complaining about a foul?

Doesn’t happen in golf.

5. Players call penalties on themselves

An NFL defensive back may grab a player’s face mask and drag him to the turf while a pass is en route, and that defensive back will still jump up and raise his arms above his head as if nothing happened.

If that were golf, the defensive back would have approached the ref and called a penalty on himself.

4. Popularity is growing around the world

Although we may be going backwards in terms of the number of Americans playing golf, which has more to do with a terrible economy and our middle class being on the road to extinction, golf is growing by leaps and bounds around the world.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are ranked number one and two on Forbes’ list of the highest paid athletes on the planet. That doesn’t happen if golf is not an extremely popular sport around the world.

3. Players are accessible

You don’t need to pay $500 or attend a $5,000 a plate fundraiser to get an autograph from Phil Mickelson. He’ll stand around and sign autographs for 45 minutes after virtually every round.

Although some players don’t take the time to sign autographs, most will take a significant amount of time out of their day to sign autographs for the fans.

Fans at golf tournaments can get close enough to talk to the players, and believe it or not, they may even talk back.

2. Tickets are cheap.

You want to go watch the Barclays (a FedEx Cup event), it will cost you $30 for the entire day and you will get the opportunity to stand within five feet of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, etc.

You go to Yankee Stadium that same night and it will cost you $2,000 to get anywhere near the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, etc.

Anyone can go to a golf tournament and watch the best players in the world from just a few short feet away.

1. NO STEROIDS

Aside from Doug Barron, who was recently suspended for using banned substances that he was taking due to a heart condition and low testosterone levels, steroids are non-existent in golf.

This era of power golf will not be tarnished in any way by the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

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