Not sure about the gender thing, we play with a number of couples and the women are as excited as their husbands to see him back. They watch for the strategies, the creative shots he can make and the excitement he brings to the game. Sometimes it's about the golf and not the person. As long as the majority want to watch him the networks will show him and the gate revenue will rise where ever he plays. When he stops becoming a draw, coverage will change and gate revenue will drop, exactly what happened the last time he left the game to get healthy. Right now he is good for the game and for those that really study golf, and appreciate skills, they will continue to follow.

All of which can be said by watching the new crop of young champions that perform week after week....

Me I prefer to watch the Fowler, Speith, McCrory, Day, Mickelson to name a few that need no justification other than how they play golf.....as proven by how they play golf. They all in one way or another present the persona of the Palmer/Nicholas generation of champions.

Woods, in my opinion, does not have that persona.

To each his own in each minds eye!!!

Well put.

I am so tired of listening to the bias comments by the announcers. " oh my God what a wonderful shot, only tiger could have made that shot".etc. etc. A few years ago while watching one of the tournaments on television I listen to the announcer berate one of the players for slamming his Club on the ground after a bad shot and say how immature can one be. Well a little while later the tiger had a lousy shot, and slams his Club into the ground, the announcer proceeded to say, " wow look how intense tiger is when he us playing."

It's not a question of liking him Gracie. It's that I appreciate what he has done for golf and what he has done with his various charities. It's about accepting him as a flawed human being.

I feel that he's done more good than bad in the world. He made a big mistake, yes, but he has paid the price. Does that outweigh all fo the good he has done? He's has brought more people as players and fans to the game. When he plays, interest in the tournament increases tremendously. My former mother-in-law who knew nothing about golf and never had any interest in golf would tune in every Sunday to watch what she called "The Tiger Show". Thousands of young kids and minorities began playing golf because of Tiger. Golf instilled in them values that they might not have had otherwise. Some have been saved from a life of crime because of golf. Before Tiger, it was not cool for kids and especially minority kids to play golf. Tiger made golf cool.

He has lived the past 25 years in a goldfish bowl. We don't know half about other players as we know about Tiger. Every move he makes is examined and criticized. We don't know what most of the other players are doing 24/7.

I've never met him, but I know people that know him and they all seem to like him. Players that I've spoken with say that he is very polite and goes out of his way to make them comfortable when they are paired with him. Players that have been on teams with him have nothing but good things to say about him. I've never heard anyone that knows him say anything negative about him.

I also know that he has an incredible work ethic and desire to be the best that ever played the game. It would be easy for someone who has had the kind of success that he's had to sit back and relax and rake in the bucks by speaking and doing clinics. Instead, he is at the gym at 5:00 every morning and working his tail off at the practice range every day.

I've met a lot of professional athletes and especially a lot of PGA Tour players in my life. And I can say that the perception that most people get by seeing them briefly on television is usually very different than the reality. Some that come across as great people are not and some that seem to be arrogant and unlikable are just the opposite.

People hate Tiger for many reasons. I try not to like or dislike any athlete until I get to know them. People hate that the media is all gaga over Tiger. The media is just giving us what we want. There are a lot more people that are interested in Tiger's golf than people who turn off the television because they are talking about him too much. TV ratings go up when Tiger is playing in a tournament. They go through the roof when he is in contention. How else should the media act? They simply put on what most people want to see.

All I'm saying is that we shouldn't judge Tiger by one or two acts or how by the media treats him.

And as far a diiner guest and turning up his nose at Velveeta? He served hamburgers and fries at the champions dinner after his first Masters win. That ruffled the feathers of some of the older champions. From what I understand, Tiger is really a pretty down to earth guy.

Last night the ratings for Bay Hill were announced. They increased over 100% from last year (final round 136% and the gate increased by over 5,000 folks. Spieth, Phil, Day, Fowler, Bubba weren't in the mix. Like it or not, Tiger draws and the young pro's of today are happy he does. The media covers him because most of those tuning in want to watch him. If he fades, then you will get the coverage you want, but until he does we will get the coverage we want.

He actually has faded but the media keeps playing his return as a resurrection and that is what the crowd is buying into.

In my humble attempt at being humorous!

[QUOTE=Dr Winston O Boogie jr

Thousands of young kids and minorities began playing golf because of Tiger. Golf instilled in them values that they might not have had otherwise. Some have been saved from a life of crime because of golf. Before Tiger, it was not cool for kids and especially minority kids to play golf. Tiger made golf cool

Some that come across as great people are not and some that seem to be arrogant and unlikable are just the opposite

Sure like to know where you get all this information or is this just opinion

12th at the Honda Classic, 2nd at the Valspar Championship, 5th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his last three comeback tournaments. Hardly a fading star.

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The issues most people have with Tiger have little to do with his past or present golf skills.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Seems that some people here are critical of Tiger cuz he cheated on his wife, swears, throws clubs etc.

I am sure they have led perfect lives.

PS Jack and Arnie were not perfect either, their fame was in a much different era of less media scrutiny.

Heh heh. Knew that was coming.

You're absolutely right. Nobody is perfect. But some are considerably less perfect than others.

Besides, some people here are simply saying they don't particularly like Tiger. Big whoop. They don't have to be perfect to say that. Do you like every person on the planet? I seriously doubt it. And yet I will venture a guess that you aren't perfect either. How do you reconcile those two facts?

Interesting. First of all "most people" is highly subjective as are the issues. Some projection there.



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My post is clearly referring to most of that group of people who do have issues with Tiger. Some inference there...

Across the country private clubs are closing for lack of membership and public golf courses are struggling with fewer golfers and rounds of golf played. The USGA is very concerned about the state of amateur golf in the United States. Fewer youngsters are learning how to play and young business men and women have found golf to be too time consuming and in many cases too expensive. On the other hand, the PGA tour, with stars such as Tiger Woods, is doing quite well as noted by large crowds, tv ratings and corporate sponsors. Life is good.