The Ripple Effect of Tiger Woods

Gastric ReFlux · 02-06-2006, 11:01 AM

It was around 10 years ago that Tiger Woods turned professional, and began his march in an effort to break Jack Nicklaus's records of tour victories and majors. Tiger has already won 10 majors and he just recently turned 30, and the ages of 30 to 40 have often been a good time for golfers to win, as they still have excellent physical skills plus they have gained the experience of how to play the course setups at tour stops and majors. After 40, it gets tougher, as the physical decline begins robbing a stroke here and there.

But here in 2006, we may be starting to see an effect of Tiger's ripples when his pebble hit the pond in 1996. Woods may not have been the first long bomber, John Daly made a name and legacy for himself at Crooked Stick in 1991 when the big guy from Arkansas began to show us just how far a golf ball could be hit. But Daly's other frequent personal troubles have interfered with his game being always at its best, so it wasn't really until Tiger showed up that we began to see just how much a course could be tamed simply by driving deep and leaving yourself wedge shots into greens.

Plus Tiger Woods has become one of the most recognizable figures in sports, a black man dominating a sport which had the sport and activity of the leisurely wealthy class which was predominately white. Even as recently as 1990, controversy erupted around the PGA Championship held at Shoal Creek, a club in Alabama which had no black membership. Tiger's first major victory was at Augusta, in the Masters, which has all the southern charm as well as some of the less savory aspects of exclusion or tradition; Augusta National didn't admit its first black member until 1990. In 1996, Tiger Woods took apart the course, and ran laps around the field, winning by a margin of 12 strokes, an amazing performance in a tournament renowned for its tight Sunday battles.

Now in 2006, we're beginning to see the arrival of Tiger's legacy. We're beginning to see the guys who can drive it past Tiger, and not by just a few yards, but a whole heap of yards. Yesterday, on a day when Tiger Woods defeated Ernie Els in a playoff in Dubai, a 23 year-old guy from Kentucky named J.B. Holmes would end up winning the FBR Open in Phoenix. Holmes would win by 7 strokes better than the second-place finishers, and well in front the rest of a field that included 5 of the top 10 in the world golf rankings.

On the final hole of the FBR Open, J.B. Holmes ripped a 354-yard drive right down the middle, leaving himself a simple sand wedge into the green.

It's not just Holmes though. There's Bubba Watson, a lefty who can drive it as far as Holmes. There's Villegas who's not that big but he can drive it the length that Tiger does. We're now beginning to see the young men who've been grooving golf swings based upon the simple idea of Woods, hit it deep and leave yourself short irons into the greens.

Suddenly now, we might begin to see a bubbling emergence of new talent that could make it tough for Tiger Woods to win the majors to surpass Jack Nicklaus. At the same time we might be able to say that if Tiger Woods does break that mark, he'll become the one that Holmes might have to chase down in an effort to be known as one who might the best ever.

Sublimity · 02-06-2006, 11:03 AM

There's less nipple in this thread than I at first expected.

eriqjaffe · 02-06-2006, 11:04 AM

'roids!

BlackHatCowboy · 02-06-2006, 11:55 AM

Gastric Reflux, did you write that? Great writeup!

Gastric ReFlux · 02-06-2006, 12:13 PM

Thanks. It's okay for off-the-cuff late morning Monday rambling. Mostly a result of me watching the end of the FBR Open after getting home from playing a round myself, where in the cold, my longest drive of the day that had some wind helping went about 240 yards.

It's just astonishing to now see a bunch of young guys showing up and the lengths they can hit the little balls. These might be the guys who'll make it tough for Tiger Woods to win more than 18 majors.

It's also possible that we could end up seeing some attempt by the USGA to deaden the golf balls.

NCBeachBum · 02-06-2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gastric ReFlux

Plus Tiger Woods has become one of the most recognizable figures in sports, a multi-racial man dominating a sport which had the sport and activity of the leisurely wealthy class which was predominately white.

^ Fixed that for you.

Tiger's been known to get short with members of the press who insist upon calling him black, feeling that by doing so they're ignoring his asian heritage.
Of course, doing so caused the then president of the NAACP to call him an Uncle Tom, and he backed off the position.

Sublimity · 02-06-2006, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NCBeachBum

^ Fixed that for you.

Tiger's been known to get short with members of the press who insist upon calling him black, feeling that by doing so they're ignoring his asian heritage.
Of course, doing so caused the then president of the NAACP to call him an Uncle Tom, and he backed off the position.

I didn't know that about the NAACP thing. That's two thoughts short of ******ed.

Craig S. · 02-06-2006, 01:16 PM

Holmes is definitely one to watch. He shot 6 rounds in the 60s to win Q-school, and I think he ended up in the top 10 in his first PGA tournament, too. I haven't seen enough of him to know how good he'll be, but that was a nice performance at the FBR, one that was unfortunately heavily overshadowed by Tiger's win in the desert.

It will be interesting to see the emergence of some of these guys over the next few years, and to see who will become Tiger's "new" competition.

sporr · 02-06-2006, 01:28 PM

Am I the only one that thought about Happy Gilmore while reading this?

sebastian0622 · 02-06-2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublimity

I didn't know that about the NAACP thing. That's two thoughts short of ******ed.

The NAACP has done a lot of things just short of ******ed, at best, lately. They're taking the PETA route nowadays, and that is sad.

Sublimity · 02-06-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebastian0622

The NAACP has done a lot of things just short of ******ed, at best, lately. They're taking the PETA route nowadays, and that is sad.

Definitely. I just didn't know about that particular one.

Jonzard · 02-06-2006, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sporr

Am I the only one that thought about Happy Gilmore while reading this?

It should really be the Ripple Effect of Happy Gilmore

NCBeachBum · 02-06-2006, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebastian0622

The NAACP has done a lot of things just short of ******ed, at best, lately. They're taking the PETA route nowadays, and that is sad.

Unfortunately, the powers that be seem to have changed the focus over the last 10 years or so.... from an organization meant to represent, stand for, and defend blacks, to a political special interest group that uses blacks as a base to expand their own power and wealth. Anyone who doesn't toe the party line, so to speak, is a detriment to their illusory united front. They no longer tolerate diversity. Sad doesn't even begin to cover it for me.

Hell, I don't know. Maybe their intentions were never as pure as I thought when I was younger, and it's just become more apparent over the last 10 years. Wouldn't be the first time I ever got succered.

tim_uwrf · 02-06-2006, 06:40 PM

Good read GR. I've never been a fan of Tiger Woods, but what he has done for golf is a good thing. He has dominated the sport of golf for the past few years, and it is time for someone younger to come along.

marc · 02-06-2006, 06:52 PM

Good points, I agree with most of what you're saying but I'll play devil's advocate just for the sake of discussion...

Something that gets overlooked about Tiger's game is his Iron play. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he's hands down the best Iron player in the world. If one of these young guns wants to reach his level it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a 350 yard drive. Tiger's excellence is based on length, extraordinary iron play, and combine that with the fact that he also has one of the top 10 shortgames in the world and you get the total package.

When Tiger is hitting puts, he's the only golfer to ever live that is truely "unbeatable".

02-06-2006, 11:01 AM	#1
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	The Ripple Effect of Tiger Woods It was around 10 years ago that Tiger Woods turned professional, and began his march in an effort to break Jack Nicklaus's records of tour victories and majors. Tiger has already won 10 majors and he just recently turned 30, and the ages of 30 to 40 have often been a good time for golfers to win, as they still have excellent physical skills plus they have gained the experience of how to play the course setups at tour stops and majors. After 40, it gets tougher, as the physical decline begins robbing a stroke here and there. But here in 2006, we may be starting to see an effect of Tiger's ripples when his pebble hit the pond in 1996. Woods may not have been the first long bomber, John Daly made a name and legacy for himself at Crooked Stick in 1991 when the big guy from Arkansas began to show us just how far a golf ball could be hit. But Daly's other frequent personal troubles have interfered with his game being always at its best, so it wasn't really until Tiger showed up that we began to see just how much a course could be tamed simply by driving deep and leaving yourself wedge shots into greens. Plus Tiger Woods has become one of the most recognizable figures in sports, a black man dominating a sport which had the sport and activity of the leisurely wealthy class which was predominately white. Even as recently as 1990, controversy erupted around the PGA Championship held at Shoal Creek, a club in Alabama which had no black membership. Tiger's first major victory was at Augusta, in the Masters, which has all the southern charm as well as some of the less savory aspects of exclusion or tradition; Augusta National didn't admit its first black member until 1990. In 1996, Tiger Woods took apart the course, and ran laps around the field, winning by a margin of 12 strokes, an amazing performance in a tournament renowned for its tight Sunday battles. Now in 2006, we're beginning to see the arrival of Tiger's legacy. We're beginning to see the guys who can drive it past Tiger, and not by just a few yards, but a whole heap of yards. Yesterday, on a day when Tiger Woods defeated Ernie Els in a playoff in Dubai, a 23 year-old guy from Kentucky named J.B. Holmes would end up winning the FBR Open in Phoenix. Holmes would win by 7 strokes better than the second-place finishers, and well in front the rest of a field that included 5 of the top 10 in the world golf rankings. On the final hole of the FBR Open, J.B. Holmes ripped a 354-yard drive right down the middle, leaving himself a simple sand wedge into the green. It's not just Holmes though. There's Bubba Watson, a lefty who can drive it as far as Holmes. There's Villegas who's not that big but he can drive it the length that Tiger does. We're now beginning to see the young men who've been grooving golf swings based upon the simple idea of Woods, hit it deep and leave yourself short irons into the greens. Suddenly now, we might begin to see a bubbling emergence of new talent that could make it tough for Tiger Woods to win the majors to surpass Jack Nicklaus. At the same time we might be able to say that if Tiger Woods does break that mark, he'll become the one that Holmes might have to chase down in an effort to be known as one who might the best ever.

02-06-2006, 11:03 AM	#2
Sublimity Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: This thread. Posts: 3,199	There's less nipple in this thread than I at first expected. __________________ mrs ria: I hereby dub Sublimity the Glorious Upholder of the 5B3. Current leading vote-getter in the Worst Poster in OT History poll.

02-06-2006, 11:04 AM	#3
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,732	'roids! __________________

02-06-2006, 11:55 AM	#4
BlackHatCowboy Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Wichita Posts: 94	Gastric Reflux, did you write that? Great writeup!

02-06-2006, 12:13 PM	#5
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	Thanks. It's okay for off-the-cuff late morning Monday rambling. Mostly a result of me watching the end of the FBR Open after getting home from playing a round myself, where in the cold, my longest drive of the day that had some wind helping went about 240 yards. It's just astonishing to now see a bunch of young guys showing up and the lengths they can hit the little balls. These might be the guys who'll make it tough for Tiger Woods to win more than 18 majors. It's also possible that we could end up seeing some attempt by the USGA to deaden the golf balls.

02-06-2006, 01:16 PM	#8
Craig S. Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 114	Holmes is definitely one to watch. He shot 6 rounds in the 60s to win Q-school, and I think he ended up in the top 10 in his first PGA tournament, too. I haven't seen enough of him to know how good he'll be, but that was a nice performance at the FBR, one that was unfortunately heavily overshadowed by Tiger's win in the desert. It will be interesting to see the emergence of some of these guys over the next few years, and to see who will become Tiger's "new" competition.

02-06-2006, 01:28 PM	#9
sporr Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Muscatine, IA Posts: 8,277	Am I the only one that thought about Happy Gilmore while reading this?

02-06-2006, 06:40 PM	#14
tim_uwrf Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Field of Dreams Posts: 1,998	Good read GR. I've never been a fan of Tiger Woods, but what he has done for golf is a good thing. He has dominated the sport of golf for the past few years, and it is time for someone younger to come along.

02-06-2006, 06:52 PM	#15
marc Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,505	Good points, I agree with most of what you're saying but I'll play devil's advocate just for the sake of discussion... Something that gets overlooked about Tiger's game is his Iron play. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he's hands down the best Iron player in the world. If one of these young guns wants to reach his level it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a 350 yard drive. Tiger's excellence is based on length, extraordinary iron play, and combine that with the fact that he also has one of the top 10 shortgames in the world and you get the total package. When Tiger is hitting puts, he's the only golfer to ever live that is truely "unbeatable".