The State of Play on the PGA Tour
August 17, 2011 by Admin · 2 Comments
The year 2011 will be known as the year the PGA became an international enterprise instead of an American tradition.
As Tiger Woods walked off the course, after missing the cut in the PGA Championship, it seemed to be an ominous sign that the PGA Tour has a serious problem. American players no longer dominate the tour which is obviously bad for business. Furthermore, as far as players are concerned, there are no real glimmers of hope on the horizon. The word “superstar” is no longer used in the world of professional golf.
The PGA Tour has lost much of it’s popularity with the literal disappearance of Tiger Woods as a competitive tour player. During the PGA Championship television announcers tried to, once again, puff the participation of Woods in the tournament. The wind came out of the press’ bubble as Woods missed the cut and was seen pouting as he walked to his car. As Woods left, it seemed to be an ominous sign for the PGA Tour. Factoid: after two rounds, Woods was beaten by four non tour players (club professionals that had entered the tournament).
The PGA has got to do something to bring back viewers. They’ve got to get out of their old stale mode and try something new. New types of tournaments, perhaps match play events. If they don’t think out of the box by trying new venues, they may lose their fan base for good.
Make no mistake, the game of golf itself is healthy it’s the PGA Tour that needs help.
