subject: Who Will Step Up While Tiger Is Gone? [print this page] What do you do when the single biggest person on your tour goes down in flames on a personal level and decides to take a break from the game? We are about to find out on the PGA Tour.
There has been a running joke that the PGA Tour could be called the TW Tour. The reason? Tiger Woods has become so omnipotent on the tour that every other competitor should bow before him and give thanks. Yes. Even now. Why? Well, Tiger brings sponsorship to the tour and that means big dollars. With him gone for a while, people are worried since a tour event that doesnt have Tiger tends to draw 50 percent of the ratings of one that does. Still, someone must fill the spotlight. The question is, who will it be? Lets take a look at a few possibilities.
Phil Mickelson
As a San Diego man, I love Phil. He is the anti-Tiger in many ways, which means that he would seem to be a natural in this position. That being said, I doubt he will be. For all of his positives, Phil hasnt done well when the light has shined on him and he has had to carry a tournament or the game. With Tiger absent, weve heard nary a word from Mickelson and I doubt he really wants to become the man on the tour.
Anthony Kim
Kim seems like a natural for the spotlight. He has a personality that is conductive to it. He also has the game to match. He is young, which means his game is improving. Even so, he has some rounds that are just amazing. His 5&4 victory over Sergio Garcia in the 2008 Ryder Cup when he was 23 was amazing. Kims eleven birdies in the second round of The Masters in 2009 was simply staggering. Whether he is mature enough to handle the spotlight now is a reasonable question, but he is my pick to definitely challenge Tiger down the road if nothing else.
Youth Served
Whatever you think of Tiger, there is little reason to doubt that he has made the sport immensely popular around the world. There is a huge flood of talented players coming up through the sport. One or even a few could charge into the gap that he has left. They include players like Ryo Ishikawa, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy to name only a few. The sport is primed to get a shot of young blood and this could be fast forwarded this year.
The Tiger Woods fiasco is a mess on just about all fronts. It could, however, give the PGA a chance to expose some of its other players to a wider audience and avoid being reliant on the fortunes of one player. That can only be viewed as a good development.
