The PGA Tour has been living in a state of flux since Tiger Woods crashed his Escalade into a fire hydrant late Thanksgiving night. And even after the apology by a contrite Woods, nothing has changed.
“It has left a big question mark: When is he going to return?” six-time major champion Nick Faldo said yesterday on the Golf Channel. “We have had the apology, but as golfers we are back at square one.”
Square one means no Woods, who gave no definite date for his return. It is not the desired position for a Tour that over the last decade and a half has marketed little else besides the demigod mythology of Woods.
“We have come though other absences of Tiger — the death of his father, his knee surgery — in a strong position if not stronger,” Tour executive vice president Ty Votaw said. “It’s not a question of need. We do just fine during those periods of time.”
If doing fine means continuing full sponsorship for the PGA Tour, then there are no problems. After this year’s loss of the Buick Open, a Tour mainstay since 1958, and the tournament formerly known as the Greater Milwaukee Open, which had been on the schedule since 1968, the Tour has done its best to revive itself with two brand-new events.
The Tour signed a six-year deal with the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia to host the Greenbrier Classic in place of the Buick Open, and also signed a three-year deal with financial consulting firm RSM McGladrey to hold the McGladrey Classic in place of the old Milwaukee tournament.
“At RSM McGladrey, we know that our clients and prospects enjoy playing and watching golf,” McGladrey president C.E. Andrews said during the announcement of the sponsorship. “Partnering with the PGA Tour enables us to connect with these individuals in a meaningful way.”
Television viewership has been the lifeblood of the PGA Tour for years and one of the main attractions for sponsors. Pro golf has one of the most desirable demographics for any advertiser, and with Woods’ absence from the game, viewership has plummeted.
Two years ago, with Woods in the field, the Buick Invitational drew an average of 6.2 million viewers for its final round, according to the Nielsen Company. This year, with Woods reportedly in sex rehab in Mississippi, the final round drew an average of 3.2 million.
Votaw noted that the past three tournaments on the Tour — at Pebble Beach, Riveria CC and Torrey Pines — all had better ratings this year than last. He also failed to mention that Woods wasn’t in the field of any of those events last year, when he was recovering from knee surgery. But when Woods did return to the Accenture Match Play Championship (the World Golf Championship event going on this weekend in Arizona), the viewership was 1.3 million on the opening day, when he lost his match to Tim Clark, and 776,000 the next day sans Woods.
“The game of golf needs him to come back,” Phil Mickelson said recently about his longtime rival. “I mean, it’s important for him to come back and be a part of the sport. But right now he’s got a lot more important things going on in his life.”
There may be more important things going on in Woods’ life, but there’s nothing more important to the PGA Tour than Tiger Woods.