Tiger Drives the Ratings Needle, For Now
This year's Masters produced one of the most thrilling final rounds in tournament history. With Tiger 2.0 contending but falling short, Rory McIlroy literally bursting into flames, and largely anonymous Charl Schwartzel's victory, the 2011 Masters had a little something for everybody. And, with a frantic final nine featuring several golfers with a chance to win, the impact on the Masters TV ratings was sure to reflect one of the most exciting tournaments in recent memory. Sure enough, preliminary ratings for Sunday's final round placed it as the second-highest in the last 10 years, right behind Tiger's comeback tournament last year.
Certainly, a large part of the credit goes to Mr. Woods for being the most reliable ratings draw in all of sports. Even as the only American golfer in the Top 10 for much of the day, ratings were still high throughout as a foreign invasion battled golf's greatest force of nature. So, the question can be asked, is Tiger alone responsible for Sunday's high rating? Is golf healthy as long as Tiger Woods is in contention? Do young American golfers need to start competing with the international superstars who have dominated the last four majors?
As Sports Media Watch points out, the 2011 Masters was the 3rd highest in the last 15 years among those not won by Woodrow. Certainly Tiger being in contention helped ratings a great deal. One only has to look at the 2010 PGA Championship, when Tiger wasn't in contention, to see how ratings can plummet without El Tigre stalking the pack. In fact, in last year's victory by German Martin Kaymer, ratings took a 33% hit from the previous year, when Y.E. Yang upset Woods and the world hadn't been introduced to Tiger's many mistresses, a much simpler time for us all, I'm sure. It's safe to say if it were Gary Woodland or Steve Marino making the Sunday charge at Augusta, ratings definitely wouldn't have been as high for this year's Masters.
But, in a big picture sense, the game of golf has never been healthier, despite the lack of success by young Americans in the majors. In fact, it seems like viewers are just as willing to pay attention to young international golfers as young American golfers. Just look at Rory McIlroy and his mix of skill and social media savvy. Merely hours after choking away the Masters, McIlroy was tweeting, thanking supporters for all the kind words. His graciousness in defeat, but more importantly his understanding of how to be a star in the new media age, will shortly make him a household name. And yet, today, Rory McIlroy is tweeting out pictures of himself with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel wearing his green jacket and being shown on PTI.
So, while golf's ratings in the short-term will be largely dependent on where Tiger and Phil appear on the leaderboard, the long-term growth of the game is in excellent hands. As long as viewers continue to pay attention to young stars like Rory McIlroy on the golf course and online, golf's ratings will steadily climb in the long-term future, with or without the old stalwarts at the top of the leaderboard and with or without a steady presence of American golfers slipping on green jackets. In fact, the future of a sport without Tiger Woods might not be as bleak as many would have you believe.
