Friday, November 10, 2000
Look, Tiger, you are not bigger
than the game
By John Smallwood
Knight Ridder Newspapers
PHILADELPHIA — So is this a case of
Tiger, Tiger burning bright or just Tiger Woods whining like a
pompous brat about - of all things - money?
Make no mistake, I fully understand Eldrick
Woods - more commonly referred to as Tiger - is the “It”
man of the PGA Tour.
There's no question the PGA's enormous surge
in popularity and the accompanying financial windfall have been
triggered primarily by the incredible star appeal of the world's
best golfer.
Obviously, Woods comprehends this because
in the most recent issue of Golf World magazine, he complained
the PGA Tour is taking advantage of him.
Woods said, among other things, that PGA
commissioner Tim Finchem speaks to him only when he wants the
world's top-ranked player to play in certain events, and that
he also is upset at how the tour used his image for its own marketing
and promotional purposes.
“I understand the whole picture,”
Woods said. “What amazes me is how much the public doesn't
understand.”
What don't we understand?
That a 24-year-old who made more than $20
million the last four years in PGA Tour events is angry that the
entity that gives him the platform to display his enormous skills
is using him to make money?
That the PGA Tour sometimes has a financial
and advertising agenda that doesn't always mesh with his personal
sponsors, who will pay him about $54 million next year alone?
Geez, Tiger, how horrible. Welcome to big-time
professional sports.
A lot of people, including Woods, might
think he's bigger than the PGA, and I'll be the first to agree
he helped take it to a different level.
But Tiger is not the PGA. He is a part of
the PGA. He is not, and should not be made, bigger than the game.
Certainly, the PGA uses Woods as much as
it can. A Tiger sighting is a guaranteed ticket and television-ratings
bonanza.
Everybody wants him, and that's a lot of
pressure. But this is the cross Woods chose to bear by being not
only the world's best golfer, but also by becoming the sports
world's biggest product endorser.
Woods should have a say in how his image
is used, but the PGA shouldn't stop using a Woods highlight or
image to promote itself just because Tiger doesn't have an advertising
relationship with some company.
Tiger might not see things that way.
“This is like two tigers that are head
to head, with only one trail, and both are going in opposite directions,”
Earl Woods said of the looming confrontation between his son and
the PGA commissioner. “One of them has to step aside in order
for the other one to pass.
“And Tiger has all the cards.”
Then the PGA should look the boy wonder
in the eyes and call his bluff.
The ploy is risky. If Woods does have the
brass to battle the PGA to the extent that he would tear up his
card and stop playing on the tour, the PGA obviously would take
a huge financial hit.
And because of that, Finchem & Co. likely
will bow to Woods and give him his way. But if they have the guts
to look beyond the immediate bottom line, they'll understand the
PGA survived and prospered for a century before Tiger's arrival,
and it will survive Tiger's departure - even if that happens prematurely.
“I'm not saying this in a threatening
mode, but Tiger is an independent entrepreneur,” Earl Woods
said. “He can give up his PGA Tour status and play where
he wants. He can take his game to Europe, Africa, Asia or wherever
he wants, and the world will follow.”
Oh really?
The rest of the world might follow, but
America certainly won't.
Both Earl and Tiger have sniffed too much
catnip if they think mass numbers of American golf fans will jet
halfway across the world each weekend to watch him play in the
Istanbul Open or the Greater Beijing Classic.
And the major networks will not abandon
the American golf market just to televise Tiger's “Everywhere
but the United States World Tour.”
Perhaps Woods has the clout to start a tour
of golf stars separate from the PGA, but where will they play?
Will they provide the millions of dollars to set up, organize
and run the tournaments? Will they negotiate the multimillion-dollar
contracts with television and sponsors?
And will Woods be willing to sacrifice the
time he devotes to perfecting his game to organize events in which
to play?
I doubt it.
The bottom line is that for all of his big-headed
blustering, Tiger Woods needs the PGA Tour as much, if not more,
than the PGA Tour needs him.
This is a cooperative effort. There's no
way he'd be as big as he is without the ready-made stage the PGA
set up for him.
He's crying in Dom Perignon.
(c) 2000, Philadelphia Daily
News.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the World Wide Web site of the Philadelphia
Daily News, at http://www.philly.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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