Has golf lost it's roar because the Tiger is out?

Well I am hoping that taking the time off won't take that fire out of Tiger's belly that he has had ever since he was a little kid. It would have been nice if he would have stayed in the public light even if it wasn't playing golf. Thanks Zelo

Can you imagine what the television networks are feeling right now. What a fiasco. Like you said the attendance is going to be WAY down... not just a little. But in that situation, even for a major tournament you are talking between 100-200,000 people... I don't know what the television audience is (or was) but I am SURE it is/was a LOT larger than that... oh Lordie the money they are going to lose on this one. And God forbid that Tiger gets tired of playing the game (which I think he has)... he has one thing in mind and that is to beat Jack's 18 majors... when he does that what's going to happen... I just hope we have some great golf superstars coming down the pipe... and fairly soon. Thanks for the response. Zelo

I agree with you to a certain point... and why I can't completely agree with you is that I have been to two tournaments where Tiger doesn't/didn't play and I have been to ones where he does play. The difference in the size of the crowds are astounding AND the difference in the prices of the tickets are twice as much when Tiger plays. Try going to the Buick Invitational and getting a ticket for $50... then go to Castle Rock (The Invitational) or any of the numerous other places Tiger doesn't play and look at the size of the crowds and the scalpers trying to... not trying to actually selling tickets for twice face value. It's like looking at a magician and wondering two things. 1. what is he going to do next 2. how the heck did he do that Yes is the rest of the field throwing up the white flag... I don't think so. Look at the men's Olympic basketball team... in '84 was it? they were THE DREAM TEAM... the team that could NEVER be beaten... now our pros... the best players in the world are barely favorites and the rest of the world knows they have a shot at beating them... maybe Tiger can do the same thing for golf. Additionally what is needed is someone to challenge him... you had Snead/Hogan you had Palmer/Nicholas and you have Woods/????. Mickelson tried to make a run at it and some of the shots he makes around the green are incredible... better than Tiger in my opinion but he is not even close to par with Woods. Mickelson is like the Tom Watson of today... we all love him but we know if it comes down to a shootout... we already know the outcome. In women's golf there are a lot of girls ready to take over for Lopez/Sorenstam/Davies and the sport of women's golf is going to become more popular than ever even with the woes of Michelle Wi. Anyway thanks for your opinion... all opinions are welcome here and it is a great way to look at the flipside to the situation... Zelo

I completely agree with most of what you say. I wouldn't say he built golf... he more like took the passed torch from Jack & Arnie and ran with it. It would have been great to see Norman win (what a guy who gets snake bit!) It's going to be a long time until Tiger comes back and until that time there are going to be a lot of people losing a lot of money! Thanks Zelo