I, too, enjoy watching Tiger. And I really want to see him succeed. After watching him for so many years stand head and shoulders against the number 2-1000+ players in the world, it's nice to see him use his years of experience to show the new boys that even at 42, he is still able to kick your ass when he has even half of his old skills working. A reminder that today's guys are good, but Tiger was soooo much better at his peak.legitimatebeef wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2018 2:17 pm
I wouldn't try to change anyone's mind but I can attest I actually enjoy watching Tiger get around the course more so than any other player. The guy is super intense, also he will take on shots that garden variety tour players won't, even in his current decrepit state. He is an artful shotmaker in general, always trying to draw up a perfect shot for every different situation. So I am interested to watch every shot, no matter the score. Maybe it's retarded but there are people in the audience who want to see that sort of thing I guess, I don't think it's just the networks trying to cram stuff down throats. Even if he were to start playing totally average tour level golf I think I would still be interested on just on account of past glories, sad but true.
I don't think coverage of Tiger ever overshadows the leaders of a tournament, it just makes the window smaller for the whole rest of the field. I.e. the rest of the field has to play better to get on the TV than when Tiger's not in the tournament. It's not like there are that many all-time greats active in the game, so I feel its ok when this happens. Besides that, even at his peak Tiger sat out way more PGA Tour events than he played. So there's always been plenty of opportunities to watch Tiger-free pro golf on tv.
And I don't believe, as Jattruia suggests, that it may be time to move on. He beat Phil this past weekend and no one is suggesting he move on, even though he is 5 or 6 years older than Tiger. The thing is, when Phil or Tiger or Freddie Couples or a 58 year old Tom Watson at the Open a few years back, all great players in their day, can compete head to head with the young guns, and stay with--or be--one of the leaders, that is great entertainment for me. Maybe it's cause I'm old and I want to see Tiger give these new guys a glimpse of what they would have had to deal with back then. Or maybe it's because I feel most Tiger-haters/dis-likers really don't understand what he did for the game or how much better he was than the world at the game.