Tiger Woods: Golf god or notorious golfer?

[Manion Ranch]

I anticipate the Tiger hunt will be intense during the AT&T; this year.  I just wonder if spectators will be tracking Tiger to witness greatness, or to observe a notorious person who was once great?

[Shorty]

What made me guess that this would be a first post?

Golf fans are over it. They want to see Tiger play well.

What do you think they would be "observing"?

[Manion Ranch]

Mr. Shorty,

I'll be attending the tourney and when I see tiger (speaking for me only) I'll be thinking...train wreck, who was once great.    Plus, I didn't realize the scrutiny of grammatical correctness among fellow posters.  BTW, I may be new to this site - but I've been around, you know...

Love,

A non-Tiger hater, just don't care for the bum

[JetFan1983]

Troll alert.

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by Manion Ranch

Mr. Shorty,

I'll be attending the tourney and when I see tiger (speaking for me only) I'll be thinking...train wreck, who was once great.    Plus, I didn't realize the scrutiny of grammatical correctness among fellow posters.  BTW, I may be new to this site - but I've been around, you know...

Love,

A non-Tiger hater, just don't care for the bum

Been around where, the Troll farm? Good bait so far.

You can't call Tiger a train wreck as that term is synonymous with John Daly. I am no Tiger fan boy, but he only really lost it when you compare him to himself.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Manion Ranch

Mr. Shorty,

I'll be attending the tourney and when I see tiger (speaking for me only) I'll be thinking...train wreck, who was once great.    Plus, I didn't realize the scrutiny of grammatical correctness among fellow posters.  BTW, I may be new to this site - but I've been around, you know...

Love,

A non-Tiger hater, just don't care for the bum

A train wreck for several years -- yes.

But that ended this fall. He recovered from his injuries, his game improved, and he is competing - a win in a limited event and a top 3 this week in a strong field.

The only train wrecks are those who live in the past and don't recognize the present.

[GaijinGolfer]

Everyone loves a comback story and if Tiger is in contention, you can bet the crowds will be following him.  Its a shame, really because there so many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good and actually quite a bit more interesting.

[sean_miller]

"Don't sell me onions good sir. I want something stronger."

"Have you ever tried manions? You can't get a stronger onion than a "manion", and we grow them right here on the ranch!"

"Sounds powerful - fill my boots!!"

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

Everyone loves a comback story and if Tiger is in contention, you can bet the crowds will be following him.  Its a shame, really because there so many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good and actually quite a bit more interesting.

Why is it a shame?  If you are correct then those discerning fans like yourself will have no problem following those more interesting golfers.  But my money is on the proposition that by the time we get to the end of the year a statement that there are many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good will be seen as ridiculous nonsense.

[newtogolf]

More likely there will be people in the gallery hoping to see his downfall and will be disappointed that he's playing better than most expected.

[brocks]

Why is it a shame?  If you are correct then those discerning fans like yourself will have no problem following those more interesting golfers.  But my money is on the proposition that by the time we get to the end of the year a statement that there are many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good will be seen as ridiculous nonsense.

Tiger's T3 at Abu Dhabi moved him up to 17th in the world rankings --- and since they only go back two years, i.e. several months after his accident and all the scandals, nobody can say his ranking is inflated due to past results. All of his wins on the PGA tour have dropped out of the ranking window. And yet, only seven of the players ahead of him are Americans. Actually, his ranking is lower than his play warrants, because he hasn't played the minimum number of events. If you divide his points earned by the number of events he's played, rather than the minimum divisor, his average would be 5.49, which would make him 6th in the world, and the second best American. But starting with Abu Dhabi, he'll be playing every other week until the Masters, including two WGC's that will yield a lot of points for high finishes. I'll be surprised if he's not officially in the top ten before the Masters, and in the top five after it.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by brocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

Why is it a shame?  If you are correct then those discerning fans like yourself will have no problem following those more interesting golfers.  But my money is on the proposition that by the time we get to the end of the year a statement that there are many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good will be seen as ridiculous nonsense.

Tiger's T3 at Abu Dhabi moved him up to 17th in the world rankings --- and since they only go back two years, i.e. several months after his accident and all the scandals, nobody can say his ranking is inflated due to past results. All of his wins on the PGA tour have dropped out of the ranking window. And yet, only seven of the players ahead of him are Americans.

Actually, his ranking is lower than his play warrants, because he hasn't played the minimum number of events. If you divide his points earned by the number of events he's played, rather than the minimum divisor, his average would be 5.49, which would make him 6th in the world, and the second best American.

But starting with Abu Dhabi, he'll be playing every other week until the Masters, including two WGC's that will yield a lot of points for high finishes. I'll be surprised if he's not officially in the top ten before the Masters, and in the top five after it.

Are there other players who also cherry pick their schedules and suffer in the OWGR due to the minumum divisor?

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by brocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

Why is it a shame?  If you are correct then those discerning fans like yourself will have no problem following those more interesting golfers.  But my money is on the proposition that by the time we get to the end of the year a statement that there are many more players on the PGA Tour who are just as good will be seen as ridiculous nonsense.

Tiger's T3 at Abu Dhabi moved him up to 17th in the world rankings --- and since they only go back two years, i.e. several months after his accident and all the scandals, nobody can say his ranking is inflated due to past results. All of his wins on the PGA tour have dropped out of the ranking window. And yet, only seven of the players ahead of him are Americans.

Actually, his ranking is lower than his play warrants, because he hasn't played the minimum number of events. If you divide his points earned by the number of events he's played, rather than the minimum divisor, his average would be 5.49, which would make him 6th in the world, and the second best American.

But starting with Abu Dhabi, he'll be playing every other week until the Masters, including two WGC's that will yield a lot of points for high finishes. I'll be surprised if he's not officially in the top ten before the Masters, and in the top five after it.

Are there other players who also cherry pick their schedules and suffer in the OWGR due to the minumum divisor?

Yep, a couple in the top 100 but no one else in the top 50 has played fewer than the minimum divisor of 40 events: http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by Manion Ranch

Mr. Shorty,

I'll be attending the tourney and when I see tiger (speaking for me only) I'll be thinking...train wreck, who was once great.    Plus, I didn't realize the scrutiny of grammatical correctness among fellow posters.  BTW, I may be new to this site - but I've been around, you know...

Love,

A non-Tiger hater, just don't care for the bum

Train wreck who won in December and just T3 in a great field???

DERPDERP

[brocks]

[QUOTE name="sean_miller" url="/t/55389/tiger-woods-golf-god-or-notorious-golfer#post_675932"] Are there other players who also cherry pick their schedules and suffer in the OWGR due to the minumum divisor? [/QUOTE] Yep, a couple in the top 100 but no one else in the top 50 has played fewer than the minimum divisor of 40 events: [URL=http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps]http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps[/URL]

Correct. To be specific, the highest ranked player after Tiger who has not played the minimum 40 events in the last two years is the famous Jaco Phillipus van Zyl of South Africa, who is currently ranked 81st. If there were no minimum divisor, he would be ranked 69th, between Sean O'Hair and Vijay Singh. Tiger hasn't played 20 WGR events in a year since 2005. A lot of uninformed people, including national sports reporters, said that playing less gave him an advantage in the rankings, but the truth is that he has been penalized for it. The big lead he had in the rankings from 2005 to 2010 would have been even bigger if there had been no minimum divisor.

[zipazoid]

Gosh, a tour pro that cheated on his wife & got divorced. How.... scandalous.

Actually, no. How fairly common, given that half of marriages in this country end in divorce.

But since it was Tiger, it got waaaay too much attention.

The only thing that showed me was how human he is. And far be it for me (or anyone for that matter other than him, his God and Elin) to pass judgment.

Yeah I know. People say it's because we were fed an 'image' of him that he ostensibly betrayed. Fine. Don't buy his stuff then. Nobody forced you to in the first place.

But at the end of a day, he's a pro golfer, one of the best ever. But he's also a human being, born to make mistakes. Just like the rest of us.

Re his golf, it's a compelling story given how far he had fallen. Can he get back to where he once was? It makes a great story line, and one I am anxious to see unfold.

So back to the first post - what will people be going to see when they go to watch him play? You'd have to ask them, and I'm sure it will vary from person to person. There's no 'one' answer, no one voice that speaks for them all. I think most serious golfers want to see greatness, they want to see the player that once dominated & to see if he can do it again. For the others, its the allure of personality.

[mtsalmela80]

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Been around where, the Troll farm? Good bait so far.

You can't call Tiger a train wreck as that term is synonymous with John Daly. I am no Tiger fan boy, but he only really lost it when you compare him to himself.

Hey John Daly is in 2nd place this week!