Tiger Woods announced today that he will rejoin the PGA Tour…
and play at this year’s Masters at Augusta National in Georgia. (April 5 – 11, 2010)
“The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect,” Mr. Woods said in a statement. “After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.” – Wall Street Journal, 3-16-10
It’s been 4 months since he disappeared from view after the sex scandal exploded his marriage and career. Choosing to return at the Masters is probably a very wise move as Augusta National sets very strict limits on the media and on the crowds who circle the fairways. Very few media are allowed and the spectators who attend are expected to maintain the highest level of decorum or they will be removed from the course. As a result there is no chance that rowdy crowds or eager media will get in Tiger’s face or disrupt the game.
It also means that this golf tournament will be one of the most closely watched in decades, guaranteeing record numbers of TV viewers and high revenues for those advertisers who promote their products during the broadcast.
It’s going to be interesting how this all plays out. After admitting infidelity and undergoing over two months of therapy, Tiger admits that he still has a long way to go. In December he gave a statement to the public…“Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life.” Since December several major corporate sponsors have scaled back or abandoned their endorsements of Tiger. Will they return?
Although he is in great physical shape, at the age of 34 Tiger has only a few years of peak golf performance left. If he is ever to beat Jack Nicklaus’ record number of tournament wins, now is the time to play.
Questions for you:
- Will you watch?
- Will you be rooting for Tiger?
- Do you think his wife will show up to support him?
- How will all the craziness of the past few months affect his game?
- Will Tiger win?
Thanks, Pat. Will do! This will be my second trip to Augusta — 2009 was my first. It’s awesome. I blogged about Tiger opting to make his comeback at The Masters. If you’re interested, here’s where you can check it out: http://costeffectivepr.blogspot.com/
Thanks Lei. Enjoy your practice round at Augusta! Would love to be in the crowd to watch this drama unfold. Keep in touch and let us know what you see!
You’re right on about why it’s good for him to return for The Masters. As a PR pro, I’ve advocated The Masters as his return tourney from the beginning for precisely the reasons you stated. The Masters crowds are the most tightly controlled in golf. This is especially important because Tiger attracts sports fans as well as golf fans to the game and sports fans can (in the best of times) be rowdier than traditional golf fans. I’ll not only be watching, I’ll be there for a practice round and am looking forward to observing first hand how he’s received. Of course, as anyone who’s familiar with Augusta National knows, one dares not be rowdy, lest you be banned for life.
Nah… not watching.. luster has worn off. Plus, I don’t need to watch to see him heckled. It’ll be all over the news.