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Golf: All Tigered Out
By John Berkovich
Friday, February 06. 2004 Tiger Woods Golf
Every generation someone comes along and quickly makes
an immediate impact on his chosen sport. Wayne Gretzky,
Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan come quickly to mind. Watching
them excel; the superlatives and overkill start.
The athlete is then fawned over to such a degree that
he sometimes receives credit where it is not due.
The latest example is Tiger Woods. Since his first Masters
win in 1997 Tiger Woods has received some deserved accolades
for his superlative golf game. His career began with much
fanfare and he has lived up to the promise he showed as
an amateur.
Since turning pro at Milwaukee in 1996, he has won 39
times on the PGA Tour and collected a handful of overseas
titles. He is the best golfer today and in just 7-1/2
years he ranks in the upper echelon of the all time best.
Woods hits it long and straight off the tee, drills irons
into the greens with the precision of a brain surgeon,
and can putt the lights out. He also comes across as someone
who keeps things in perspective, and he seems genuinely
surprised that people will come to a golf course at 7
a.m. to watch him play a Wednesday pro-am.
However, one gets tired of the unwarranted praise and
overkill that comes his way by golf media and fans. Certainly,
none of this is Tiger Woods' fault, he can't control what
is said about him, and even he must roll his eyes sometimes.
While some of the hype has died down after his alleged
slump, the media machine appears to be cranking it up
for 2004. Witness the endless reruns on the Golf Channel
of Tiger's top ten shots and the Tiger Week that ran over
the Christmas holidays.
Okay, so they have to fill airtime somehow when no tournaments
are running, but how about some human interest stories
or features on the lesser lights of the tour? How about
a documentary about the growth of the Japanese, Asian,
or European Tour? January evenings on the Golf Channel
featured highlight packages of previous major championships-many
included Tiger Woods various major titles.
To prepare us for this week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the
Golf Channel showed us highlights of -- you guessed it
-- Tiger's 2000 win. Didn't we already catch it during
Tiger Week?
Let us look at some hyperbole that has accompanied
this wonderful golfer.
At the 2002 PGA Championship, one pro hit a brilliant
shot out of greenside rough that stopped inches from the
pin. We were told it was a "Very Tigeresque" shot. The
inference being Woods has a patent on nice recovery shots
and others who do likewise are merely borrowing from Tiger
and should pay royalties. Brilliant shots under pressure
were born the day golf was invented.
At the 1976 U.S. Open, rookie Jerry Pate faced a 190-yard
flyer from the rough over water to the 18th green on Sunday.
His one-shot lead in peril, Pate stepped up and put his
approach two feet from the pin to seal the title. At the
1986 PGA, and 1987 Masters, Bob Tway and Larry Mize respectively
birdied from a bunker and well off the green to defeat
the snakebit Greg Norman. We never hear of "Jerryesque"
or "Larryesque" shots. Curiously, many called the Mize
and Tway shots flukes, yet, would they be considered such
if Tiger Woods hit them?
A few years ago, several of Tiger's wins were credited
with influencing the Dow Jones Industrial Average the
following day. One can almost hear the conversation between
brokers on Monday morning. "Looks like it's going to be
a rough day on the market with those economic numbers
that just came out."
"Yeah, we could see a 300 point drop in the Dow today,
investors will be running for cover. Oh, wait a minute,
Tiger won yesterday. Tell your clients to forget the leading
economic indicators and those nine thousand layoffs, Tiger
won so everything will be fine."
Since the market can go in only two directions on a given
day, up or down, the ridiculous Tiger economic theory
had excellent odds of success. It's too bad that Tiger's
four consecutive majors didn't stop the technology crash
and three year bear market.
Woods is also credited with the current fitness boom among
PGA players. While today's pros are leaner than a generation
ago, the credit can't go only to Tiger Woods. The trend
started in the 1980s when the fitness trailers began showing
up at every tour stop. These traveling gymnasiums complete
with free weights, rowing machines, treadmills, medicine
balls, etc., were brought on board and sponsored by American
hospital Centinela.
Several golfers took to them immediately, noticed an improvement
not only in their game but their fitness level, and the
word spread. Regulars that hit the weights included Greg
Norman, Steve Elkington and Davis Love.
The diminutive Gary Player has been known throughout his
career for following a strict physical regiment that includes
weightlifting, push-ups, and healthy eating. He preached
to others about the benefits of physical fitness and several
listened.
Player was the originator of wearing a particular color
on Sunday, being famous for his 'Black Knight' outfits.
Curtis Strange followed with his bright red shirt for
Sunday, thus laying down the path for Woods' red and black
power ensemble.
Golf and golf clothing are now considered cool because
of Tiger Woods. Sorry, once again revisionist history
is at work. Nobody misses the green plaid pants and wide
belts of yesteryear (are you listening Aaron Baddeley?),
but fashionable clothing in golf began nearly 20 years
ago.
Designers such as Ashworth, Aureus, La Mode, and Greg
Norman's Shark logo brought a certain trendy look onto
the tour. Ashworth signed up John Cook, Fred Couples,
and later Keith Clearwater (he was the hot rookie of 1987
before injuries derailed his career) to wear the line.
Ashworth felt that Couples in particular epitomized the
laid back branding that he was promoting.
When an impact athlete arrives on the scene, imagination
and hype often take over. Wayne Gretzky was often credited
with being the first player to set up shop behind the
opposition's net, yet Stan Makita did it long before.
Tiger Woods situation is similar now. Ben Hogan, Arnold
Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and many others blazed the trail
that Tiger Woods now walks.
Woods is an outstanding golfer and a fine young man, but
fans and media alike should refrain from overkill and
placing undeserved plaudits on him.
Contact John Berkovich @ john@sunrisepublishing.co
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