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How would you feel about Tiger Woods getting appearance fees?
The PGA tour got along just fine without Tiger Woods, who gave way to the young guns of the game while he was battling a bad back, apparently corrected by spinal fusion surgery a year ago.
Great young players make millions, some taking Tiger’s prize money and endorsements, while he lived through a dark period of his life. His personal problems and physical setbacks made professional golf go on without him, not knowing if he would ever come back.
Now that he has, look what happens when Tiger does play in a tour event – even if it is finishing 32nd in Augusta. Charlotte is crazy this week for the Wells Fargo Open because Woods is returning to Quail Hollow for the first time since 2012.
Ticket sales are booming and TV ratings will skyrocket again if Tiger makes the cut and plays over the weekend like he did at the Masters. Sports bar business across the country always spikes dramatically if that happens. Everybody wants to know, even those who aren’t golf fans, “How is Tiger doing?”
Yes, Tiger is good for golf. No, he won’t win another major. The young guns hit it past him and straighter, and they respect what he did as a young man. The operative word here is young.
If Woods makes far less money playing golf than he used to, and PGA events cash in on his popularity, shouldn’t they begin offering him appearance fees? That would be only fair. He gets people to buy tickets or watch him on TV. It is undeniable what he means to the market in golf.
Would it be fair to start paying Tiger to play in certain events? The majors don’t need him, but the next level down can afford to pay Tiger to get their numbers up.
Call it a circus act, if you want, and the old-timers of the game will defend its purity. But the equation is simple. We want to see Tiger, and only certain events can deliver him now, based on what else he has on his schedule.
He is set for the Players and the Memorial to get the right tests on tough courses before the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, New York. Once he shows that he can’t win another major, Tiger will play only when and where he wants.
Unless, of course, he gets paid to play everywhere.
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