In related news, Hakuho won his 41st championship and the 14th with a perfect record!
All right, I know this is the kind of question that I Shouldn’t Be Asking, like does the complete 100% acceptance of Mary Murphy shrieking like a hysteria ward patient on amphetamines as a good, good thing because she’s “full of energy” and “showing she cares” or whatever the hell it was strike anyone as a tad suspicious, but dangit, it’s eating at me, and if you can’t ask the “wrong” questions here, where can you ask them.
So here goes. Ahem…
Why aren’t there any new young black (or black-ish) contenders in professional golf?
I wasn’t really expecting a big influx. Golf is a damn difficult and expensive sport, and more accessible sports like basketball will always have far greater preference. I wasn’t expecting someone to show up in the first few years, either; it takes time for a new star to emerge. But it’s been over two decades now. I expected someone to at least make some waves on the Web.com tour by now.
It’s funny to think about Tiger’s incredible, enduring popularity and how it’s translated to almost no influence. Look at legends like Muhammed Ali, Wilt Chamberlain, Wayne Gretzky, Larry Bird, Jimmy Connors, Mike Tyson, Royce Gracie, Chiyonofuji. They not only dominated, they completely redefined their sports and influenced countless future athletes. What’s Tiger’s legacy going to be? He brought in a great big bunch of money and sold some video games?
as far as black kids golfing, as you said golf is usually an expensive sport to play , there are very few places to play for free. The equipment is not cheap either. and even now some country clubs have no or very few black members.
He did drive a lot of interest in golf, generally, during his peak – a lot of new golf courses got built during those years, and a lot of people took up the game (just not necessarily a lot of black youths). The start of Tiger’s troubles with injuries coincided with the economy tanking in 2008, and the golf industry took its big downturn at that same time.
I seem to remember that, during his heyday, Woods was sponsoring some sort of golf scholarships or classes for inner city kids, but I may be mis-remembering.
First, I don’t get most of your references, if you’re talking about inspiring kids of ethnicity X to play sport Y. There were plenty of black basketball players before and after Wilt, plenty of black boxers before and after Tyson, plenty of white tennis players before and after Connors, etc.
Second, Tiger has had a TREMENDOUS influence on the sport. Almost all golfers train like athletes now, because Tiger did. And while it’s true that there hasn’t been another black golf phenom, almost all the white golf phenoms were inspired to make golf their first sport by Tiger — and many who weren’t inspired directly by him still made golf their first sport because Tiger made the game so lucrative.
Mostly correct. He started the Tiger Woods foundation the year he turned pro, 1996, and it is still going. It includes golf-related activities, but its main focus is on helping kids do well in school. He has donated his winnings from selected golf tournaments to the foundation, totaling tens of millions by now.
Gotta admit I’m not a huge fan of golf or sports in general but I smiled when I heard he won and saw the pictures, big moment for him after everything he’s been through these last few years. Guy must feel on top of the world right now.
Well, I was hoping Corey Connors would finish better but what a great day! Must admit I used to have doubts that Tiger would ever win a major again but some great play in 2018 changed that opinion.
Very encouraging day for Tiger. His top 12 finish means he’s eligible to play the Masters next year. Still hasn’t won a full field event, but he’s making progress.
Somehow I think he will be back for the Masters next year. No matter what I think of him personally, I love a great comeback story and I don’t think anybody can deny that he went through a lot physically and worked like crazy to come back. He was so good then seemed to flame out so spectacularly. It’s nice to see him back in contention for GOAT.
