When referring to players such as Nicklaus, Palmer and Ballesteros, one conjures up images of ‘artists’ intricately planning and designing their way round a golf course. However, now these artists seem to have been replaced by modern athletes powering their way round sometimes ignoring the more complex and delicate aspects of the game. One name springs to mind in this instance, Tiger Woods.
The game of golf has always lacked the ‘celebrity’ status of other sports such as football-Pele, and basketball- Jordan. However, it can arguably boast the most famous of all sportsmen. Tiger has undoubtedly done wonders for the game and has put it on an ever growing map in terms of participation. It is no longer solely a game for the privileged middle-class, and no matter whether you live in Surrey or Calcutta, you will now associate the game with its ‘superhero’- Tiger. He is a role model because he bucked a trend and has made the game ‘cool’.
Tiger has managed to break down the shackles of social exclusion in the sport and his domination in the sport acts as a modern day example of how sport has become an international language possessing the power to bypass class and social divide contributing to a world where rappers can be white and golfers can be black.
The man himself is very intelligent and his private life lacks the soap opera status of other celebrity sportsmen. This has allowed him to even further apply himself to the game without any distractions. However, his domination does come at a cost. The same way that Formula 1 was dominated for so many years by Schumacher, golf now has a sense of inevitability in terms of who is going to win. The corporate and commercial side of the game are obviously revelling in golf’s far wider reach these days, but caution should be made. No one should ‘outgrow’ their sport and no one is ‘bigger’ than their sport regardless of the multi million dollar payments received for just taking part in an event. But are people attracted to the game of golf? Or is it Tiger?
This could prove dangerous for the powers that be in years to come, especially when Tiger decides enough is enough. Professional golfers these days seem to assume Tiger will win, and they are simply battling for 2nd all the time and have to dress in pink and outlandish trousers in order to gain some sort of media interest! This affects golf’s competitive edge and Tiger’s shadow seems to be ever growing. Tiger can win tournaments playing well below his capabilities, he even admits this himself, but what does this do for the game? Is it being belittled by a man who finds it too easy?
Sometimes it would just be nice if occasionally the tortoise won the race.