Monday, July 30, 2001
Prime-time golf delivers new
fans, new ideas
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — Not long
after Tiger Woods first went prime time by disposing of David
Duval in a made-for-TV exhibition, he admitted that success could
be measured only by the ratings.
Two years later, the scope is much broader.
Television ratings for real golf tournaments
nearly double whenever Woods is in contention. That raises the
question of how many additional fans first got hooked on the game
by watching Woods in the Monday night time slot.
The season-opening Mercedes Championship
already is shown in prime time. Now, the PGA Tour is considering
a tournament on the West Coast — possibly Oregon — that
would conclude on Labor Day and be broadcast in prime time.
Maybe these “Battle at Bighorn”
events aren't so silly, after all.
“No question, the success of this event
has got everyone's attention in Ponte Vedra Beach,” said
Alistair Johnston, head of IMG's golf division, referring to PGA
Tour headquarters in Florida.
“If there has been a legacy of the
first two events, to some extent — modest or otherwise —
it's that people introduced to televised golf have stuck with
it.”
The “Showdown at Sherwood” in
1999 came with its share of snickers, mostly from purists who
thought it was making a mockery of the game. It was billed as
an 18-hole match between Woods and Duval, No. 1 and No. 2 in the
world ranking at a time when there really was a debate over who
was the best.
But it was never supposed to determine the
best player in the world. In fact, while Woods scored a 2 and
1 victory at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Duval
replaced him at No. 1 a week later.
The national rating grabbed a 6.9 share.
The scene shifted to the California desert
last year, where Sergio Garcia claimed a 1-up victory under the
lights in the “Battle of Bighorn,” which drew a 7.6
rating.
Garcia reacted as if he had won the Masters,
although it didn't prove anything except that Woods makes golf
more appealing than any other player in the past 40 years.
“What this was all about was doing
something different in expanding the sport and adding viewership,”
Johnston said. “I fundamentally believe that this event the
last few years has been at least an ingredient in the ratings
increase golf has experienced.”
The winner of Monday's night's exhibition
that matched Woods and Annika Sorenstam against Duval and Karrie
Webb split $1.2 million from the $1.7 million purse.
The real winner figured to be the LPGA Tour,
which rarely gets a rating share over 2 in any of its tournaments.
“I think we got a double volley here,”
Johnston said. “We're increasing exposure not only for golf,
but for women's golf. This is one of the more special moments
in LPGA history.”
Webb and Sorenstam understood just how special.
Even though the Women's British Open —
their final major championship of the year — starts Thursday
in England, they agreed to play the Monday night exhibition before
taking a charter across the Atlantic. That means they're giving
up two days of practice.
“I feel like I will have many more
British Opens to come,” said Webb, who has a chance to become
the first woman in 15 years to win three majors in one season.
“This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I was
not going to let it pass me by.”
It probably was a chance that won't come
along again.
IMG, which stages the prime-time exhibitions
and claims as clients every player who has ever taken part in
them, already is looking ahead to next year's field.
The only certainty is that Woods will not
go head-to-head again.
“It's a no-win situation for Tiger,”
Johnston said. “After the Sergio thing, we knew we had to
make a better show of it. I believe we've come up with something
different, as intriguing an event as we have had this year.”
The “Battle at Bighorn, Part IV”
most likely will include another foursome.
One source involved with the planning, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said IMG was considering Woods
and Jack Nicklaus against South African stars Gary Player and
Ernie Els.
Johnston declined to comment on specifics,
but he said a team event involving different generations was a
possibility.
Whatever it is, two key elements are in
place for these exhibitions to continue to reach nontraditional
viewers — Tiger Woods and prime-time television.
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