Tiger Woods watches his drive off the 5th tee during the second round of the Memorial Tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, Friday, June 4, 2004. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Thirteen-years ago Eldrick Tont ‘Tiger’ Woods graced our shores. Despite, having no majors to his name, he was already a rising star. Two years later, his visit to Australia for the President’s Cup was well documented.
The Footy Show did a parody of a fake Tiger Woods at a driving range in Sydney, duffing every shot.
The look-a-like then swore and broke his amateur looking clubs, before getting back in a car and driving away to the shock of onlookers.
Surprisingly, that clip didn’t feature on the Footy Show Best Of, nor can it be found on the reliable Youtube. It’s as if Tiger’s legal team saw it, and banished it to the wastelands – marked “never to be seen again”.
If Tiger’s visit was big 11-years ago, this will be monumental.
We Australians love getting behind the big names. Around 12-months ago, the arrival of John Daly boosted crowd figures. The attention given to him was so immense that he ended up breaking a spectators’ camera.
The problem has been attracting world golfers consistently. Unlike tennis, there is no major tournament that requires the world’s best to turn up.
The days are long gone of the Australian Open being considered the unofficial ‘Fifth Major’. But come Thursday, it won’t matter. Anywhere that Tiger plays automatically becomes important.
For an Australian golf event to be sold out two months in advance is phenomenal. Channel Nine jumped on the bandwagon securing the rights to the Australian Masters. It’s their first foray into domestic golf for a long time.
This week, any golfer who tees off at a similar time to Woods can expect little coverage, no matter how well he plays.
The camera directors will make sure every movement is captured of the superstar, and the microphones will be turned up that little extra.
When the announcement was made that Tiger was going to head down under for an exurbanite fee, the inevitable question was, “Can you imagine if he doesn’t make the cut?”
And it’s a legitimate question considering Kingston Heath, is no picnic. Despite, winning three British Opens, Tiger Woods has had his worst results on Links-based courses.
It’s rather ironic that this is the first year the Masters will be played away from Huntingdale – a course that would have suited Woods down to the ground.
Despite Tiger’s arrival being a PR success already, organisers need him to at least make the cut. The average Joe with no interest in golf is only going to tune in on the weekend if Tiger is there.
If he then pulls out some monster putts, with the trademark fist pump, there might be a few new golf members across the country.
In 15-20 years time it will be great to hear an Australian say after winning the US Masters that he took up golf after watching Tiger Woods dominate in Australia.
Whatever happens, the circus behind the superstar’s arrival will be fascinating, just like it was when David Beckham arrived with the L.A Galaxy.
On that occasion, I was watching the match in a pub.
Just before he scored that goal from a trademark free-kick, I heard someone say “Beckham is hopeless, I don’t know why he gets paid so much money.”
I suspect the naysayers will be secretly hoping for a poor performance by Tiger, so they can claim the moral high ground of how preposterous it was to pay someone $3 million to turn up.
The rest of us will just sit back and enjoy watching the master make the hardest sport look so damn easy.
Phil Coorey
Guest
Off the top of my head I know he played 3 masters as an amateur and the 96 Open which Steve Jones won...I'm sure wiki will help... I was adjacent to Van de Velde when it all went pear shaped. People think about his adventures in the water but forget that - he the worst drive ever on 18 (only matched by Mickelson at Winged Foot when Ogilvy won) . How it missed the burn on the right side of the fairway convinced us that it was his tournament to win. When he pulled out a long iron, instead of laying up we choked with him. The ball actually went over the burn but hit the grandstand and bounced back - from where he hit into the burn I think from the rough - we were in shock then so the next five minutes was a daze as he got up and down from the bunker to force a playoff. It was insane , just insane. I felt more sorry for him later that year when he only got to play in the singles for the Ryder Cup. Off the top of my head Tiger finished in the Top 20 - he was paired with Greg Norman on the Saturday and it was a blast. Like I said - that stinger was a joy to watch and he seemed to save all his good putts for par. I think after Carnoustie he won the next 4 of the next 5 majors starting with that epic duel with Sergio before he won the US Open (Pebble) , British (St Andrews) and US PGA (Bob may playoffs - Valhalla??)in 2000. (Just writing that off the top of my head - so I could be wrong) I love him - shame he is a Magic fan - go Celtics...:)
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Ahh yeah my bad. That actually makes a lot more sense, because his triumph in 1997 was indeed his first major played as a professional. I don't how many he played as an amateur (acutally that would be an interesting bit of trivia). Carnoustie 1999. What memories. Did he make the cut that year? All I remember was the infamous Jean Van De Velde mind-snap on the final hole. My brother and I stayed up all night to watch it. Were you there for that final round?
Phil Coorey
Guest
Thanks for the reply - but I hate to say I could be right... I said that he had not won a major in his previous 7 attempts when I saw him - the four majors that year in 1998 and the 3 after his awesome triumph in 1997 - you might have misread my quote... The best shot I ever saw Tiger play live was his 2 iron off the tee at Carnoustie in the wind. he called it "The stinger" , it barely traveled 10 feet of the ground and flew like a missile - awesome
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Yeah good call Phil, golf would be struggling everywhere if it wasn't for him. Australians certainly do get excited but I don't think we are alone when it comes to Tiger. Someone said on Talking Sport this afternoon that the practice round shows why golf is such a great sport. There you had Tiger, the most athletic, gym-shaped figure in world sport... practicing with 'Popeye" Craig Parry, a pudgy penguin shaped Aussie who tried to lose weight, but it affected his golf swing, so he put it straight back on! The lesson here is that golf is for everyone, no matter what shape and size - what's more there's no age limit. You are very lucky to have seen him play Phil, but I must pull you up on one stat. He had won prior to 1998. He won the Masters in 1997, it was his first major win and arguably his most dominant performance - winning by 12 strokes. That victory changed golf forever and 'Tiger-proofing' became a popular phrase amongst golf course designers.
Phil Coorey
Guest
The hype is great and I am a HUGE Tiger Woods fan - however, why are there helicopters flying over head during a practice round - or when he arrives? Seriously - it makes Australia look like a bunch of over excited freaks. He'll never come back if they keep carrying on like this. ' Glad I saw him at the Presidents Cup in 1998 and at Carnoustie in 1999 - the crowds were way smaller then. He is a joy to watch - if not just to see the amazing ball flight he has compared to every other player on tour. We noted in 1998 that he was the best player in the field at the Presidents Cup by a country mile ( he had not won a major in his previous 7 attempts at this stage and was rebuilding his swing with Harmon) and thankfully he proved everyone right - the guy is a freak. I don't care about the appearance fee at all - to me it is irrelevant - and it should be to the nay sayers - the guy has changed the way golf is looked at since before he even turned pro - without him golf would be struggling everywhere - not just here.
Sharon
Guest
Thanks for this. I've been a Tiger supporter despite the ups and downs of his career, and I agree the appearance is well deserved... yes even with that $3 mill price tag. It really doesn't matter whether Tiger finishes under par or royally misses a 3-foot putt. He's still Tiger Woods, and people will come from all over to pay tribute to a living legend. We definitely saw that similar trend here in the States with Beckham as you said.
Brett McKay
Guest
Great stuff Conks, it's always a special time when genuine international supertstars grace our shores. For me the difference between Daly last year and Tiger this year is the reaction of the OS-based Australians. Whereas last year they all offered cautious "we'll see" comments, this year they're all genuinely excited. Stuart Appleby telling the media corp yesterday that "you guys will be like giggling schoolgirls this week.." is a perfect example... And to think Nathan Rees mocked Victoria for spending this sort of money while he preferred the offerings of Brian Eno.....
Michael Green
Guest
Nice solid, positive thoughts. It's nice to see a few positive golf articles around this week pumping up Woods and his appearance fee. The hype is phenomenal already and I believe there were plenty at his practice round this morning. Your second last line is so true.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Benjamin..I like the use of the word "exurbanite" It fits Tiger down to a tee. It will be only the churlish that would deny Tiger is good for Australian Golf . The man is a superstar in the Muhammed Ali mould. He breaks down barriers because of his sheer talent. He cuts across all prejudice. His appearance fee I believe is underwritten by the Victorian Government and it is money well spent. It will raise the profile of Melbourne and Australia. Only good can come of it.