ESPN Golf Online: Tiger makes it primetime


ESPN NETWORK: ESPN.COM \| NFL.COM \| NBA.COM \| NASCAR \| NHL.COM \| ABCSPORTS \| FANTASY \| STORE \| INSIDER

Tiger makes it primetime

By Kevin D. Miller
ABC Sports Online
July 31 3:25pm ET

It was five years ago. I remember it well. I had been working in sports television production at ABC Sports for only four months when I was assigned to work my first golf tournament. It was the Mercedes Championship held at the Lacosta Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif.
I had just completed working the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. The weather in Pasadena was bright, sunny and wonderful. I actually looked forward to the drive down to Carlsbad. I started up the car, cranked up the music and headed south on Interstate 5 toward San Diego.
And that's when it happened.
The sun ran for cover. It started with a gentle haze, then a drop, then a sprinkle. Windshield wipers on intermittent suddenly willed themselves faster. It started to storm.

Princeton Ball, the number one ranked PGA player in the world in the year 2020.

I didn't know much about golf heading in to that trip. Before I was assigned to work that tournament, golf was a sport that I didn't spend any time watching. My only association (and misconception) of the sport was that it was only played in warm places on bright sunny days. I learned the hard way at Lacosta as power outages, course floods, collapsed streets, mudslides and floating Port-a-Johns did nothing to hinder the play of the tournament.
I hated golf back then. I hated the idea of golf. I didn't see anyone I could identify with in the sport. I wasn't introduced to the sport when I was growing up. I could not appreciate the physical skill involved with it. The sport appeared to me as exclusive rather than inclusive.
And more importantly, as a result of Lacosta, I realized how much I hated having mud in my shoes.
Times have changed. I am working golf again. This time it is Tiger Woods vs. David Duval at the Motorola Showdown at Sherwood.
There is a line in George Benson's song "The Greatest Love of All" that says, "Everybody is searching for a hero. People need someone to look up to." Tiger Woods is that hero that so many people have been searching for. Let's be clear about this event- if there was no Tiger Woods, this event would not happen. The effect that Woods has had on all communities - particularly on urban, inner city communities - is immeasurable.
At one time, golf was a sport associated with only a select audience. Now, with the popularity of Woods, golf is being used as a tool in helping urban youth. Although Woods may not have intended to, many believe he has helped pioneer golf's expansion into urban America much like Arthur Ashe did through tennis.
Each year Woods makes stops all across America with the Tiger Woods Foundation Junior Golf Clinic. This year, along with his father Earl, Woods made a stop in Minneapolis to teach some of the finer points of golf to young people. While making these stops, Earl and Tiger both take time to speak about the advantages of following and completing you goals.
Five years ago people on the inner city flat tops would ask, "How many points did Mike have?" Now a new question has emerged, "Did Tiger win this weekend?" The landscape has changed. People from Madison Avenue in New York City to 125th Street in Harlem to Watts have found a hero to cheer for. From coast to coast, parents are giving their children basketballs, footballs, baseballs and golf clubs. Young people are lining up at Tiger's clinics to get a glimpse and a tip from the inspiration.
Woods has been able to draw in an entirely new fan base since his victory in the 1997 Masters. In one legendary moment, he captured the aspirations of a youthful generation and has not let go of them. Through his own foundation,Woods has been able to cultivate the unbridled dreams of a generation that now chooses to reach past a baseball bat to grab a golf club.
"Someday, we might have a black president who went to Tiger's clinic because we told him you have a right to dream. Yes! A right to dream!" Earl Woods said recently.
For these very reasons, the Showdown at Sherwood takes on an additional and magical meaning.
The Showdown at Sherwood will do nothing to alter the rankings. The only thing on the line for these two players is money and pride. When asked about this rivalry, both competitors commented that this event isn't about a rivalry, but more about promoting the game of golf.
Who do they think they are fooling? Every game needs its champions. Every game needs a personality to lift it to new heights. In basketball, it was Magic, Larry and Michael. In baseball, most recently, it was Mark and Sammy.
Now it is the Motorola Showdown at Sherwood. Now it is Tiger Woods -- golf's showcase.
Tida Woods, Tiger's mother, came to this conclusion in a 1997 interview. "Tiger has Thai, African, Chinese, American Indian, and European blood," she said. "He can hold everyone together. He is a universal child."
The Showdown doesn't become an event without the "universal child." This event doesn't happen without people caught up in the driving force of Tiger Woods. This event doesn't happen without the appeal of seeing Woods play in primetime against Duval.
Curtis Strange, golf analyst for ABC, states, "I think it will appeal. I think that is what is neat about this. Obviously, we are going to find out. I think we will have more people tuned in that ordinarily would not watch golf. It is primetime Monday night. It is a big deal. It has been exposed a great deal the last month or so. That is why it is good for golf."

“ Tiger has Thai, African, Chinese, American Indian, and European blood. He can hold everyone together. He is a universal child. ”

— Tida Woods, Tiger's mother

Yes, this event is tremendous for golf because Woods is tremendous. No knock on Duval, who was ranked number one in the world when this event was inked and has been as good as Woods if not better over the past two years. But even Duval understands the phenomenon.
"Tiger is someone who is aware of the difficulty of playing with him at times," Duval commented.
"Because of the draw he has and the amount of people who watch him. Tiger is someone who has become more comfortable with being a star and I don't mean a star in the game. But I just mean somebody who is known around the world outside of the game."
The reality is that no one sees Duval on a Wheaties box. The reality is that Duval doesn't inspire people to hit the links on the weekend the way Woods does. The reality is that Duval did not change the face of the audience who watches or plays golf by putting on a green jacket as the 1997 Masters Champion.
Woods has found a way to touch America. Dale Ball, a senior account salesperson in Columbus, Ohio, gloats that his one-year-old son, Princeton, is going to be "golf's number one ranked player in the world in 2020." He is already taking Princeton to the golf course.
If you know and understand golf, then you know the truth of this event rests on the two best players in the world going head-to-head. If you know the game than you know that Duval can win on Monday night. We know that even the best can beat the best. The truth is that there is someone other than Tiger Woods that plays the game of golf. We all know the truth.
But there is also the reality. The reality tells us that win or lose Woods is still the "universal child". Win or lose, Woods is still the hero in the inner city.
On Monday night, the two best players in the game will meet and most of the viewing audience will only know about Woods. In primetime, one of the oldest cliches in sports will show its head in a made for TV event, "you have to play the best and beat the best if you want to be the best."
Five years ago, I could have cared less about golf. Now, that couldn't be further from the truth. I follow the events on the PGA tour. I read and track the success of Tiger Woods. But more importantly, I enjoy following the commitment by Woods to the communities that he takes time to visit.
Like many people from the inner city, I have found a new hero and he has nothing to do with Frosted Flakes. Let the truth be told though, I still hate mud in my shoes.

ALSO SEE

Woods into the inner-city
No doubt, Tiger is the lure