In an age of Imax action movies and Ultimate Fighting, the leisurely sport of golf faces a harsh reality: Its biggest draw remains a 42-year-old with a bad back.
That star, the inimitable Tiger Woods, returned to The Masters on Thursday. Golf fans -- and the $70 billion industry -- are thrilled that he is now a favorite. If he continues to bounce back from a decade of injury and scandal, could he revive the favorite pastime of U.S. presidents from Eisenhower to Obama to Trump?
Probably not. Golf was a healthier, more popular sport during Woods’s early career. Even then, television networks, sponsors and tournament organizers benefited most from his runaway success, according to Jim Koppenhaver, founder of golf consulting firm Pellucid Corp.
“There was little to no correlation to the health of the core industry, which is in the business of running golf facilities, generating rounds, revenue and jobs,” Koppenhaver said.
Courting Youth
In 2016, America counted only 23.8 million golfers, down from its peak of 30.6 million in 2003, according to the National Golf Foundation. In 2016 alone, 230 courses around the country closed for good.
Fewer people are playing because of the time sink of four hours on the links, the cost of equipment and green fees, and the sport’s inherent difficulty and frustration. To attract a younger generation, leaders of the sport have tried six-hole courses -- and even bigger holes. Topgolf, a driving-range franchise, is courting newcomers at venues that resemble high-end bowling alleys that feature big-screen TVs and serve chicken-and-waffle sliders, sangria and margaritas.
Imagine the excitement if customers could watch an ascendant Woods. When he finished second at the Valspar Championship last month, ratings on NBC were 190 percent higher than the previous year. The final round’s overnight ratings beat those of every PGA championship since 2014, every U.S. Open since 2013 and every British Open since 2000, according to Sports Media Watch.
Must-See TV
In January, Woods tied for 23rd at the Farmers Insurance Open, but the ratings on CBS rose even after he left. When the broadcast moved to to the Golf Channel for coverage some of the playoff, it was the network’s most-watched telecast ever.
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said of the Woods effect: “It’s as automatic as anything in sports television.”
Not surprisingly, corporations are betting on Woods. In December 2016, Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. signed Woods to a multiyear endorsement deal and recently released a Woods-branded golf ball.