WATCH: Golf superstars Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott all agree that The Masters doesn’t feel the same without Tiger Woods in the field.
The last time Tiger Woods wasn’t in the Masters, the average house price was $120,000, genetically modified tomatoes had just been invented and Montreal still had a pro baseball club.
That was 1994, and it would take a young Woods just 24 months into his pro career to leapfrog a deep field and claim his first green jacket in 1997. At 21, he was the youngest to win it—and by a 12-shot margin of victory.
The 1997 Masters produced monster television ratings, a feat last challenged by the 2010 Masters tournament when golf’s most famous— and in many ways infamous— player returned from a five month leave to cope with well-documented personal matters.
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Woods would lose that day to a methodical assault from Phil Mickelson.
But it was a smash victory for television broadcasters; 1.8 million Canadians tuned into Global to watch the Sunday broadcast, according to BBM Canada or a 74 per cent spike compared to the 2009 event at August National.
With Woods out for the first time in two decades there’s an obvious sense of letdown, even among fellow competitors (although Canadian viewers will want to tune in to catch Mike Weir and Graham DeLaet).
Ticket prices dropped in the immediate aftermath of Woods’ announcement last Tuesday.
At a press event ahead of the start of the four-day tournament on Thursday, Mickelson said he’s disappointed that Woods—still the world’s No.1 golfer—is forced to watch, sidelined by back surgery that will see him sit out of more than the Masters this season.
“It’s a weird feeling not having him here isn’t it? He’s been such a mainstay in professional golf at the majors. It’s awkward to not have him here,” the PGA Tour’s fifth-ranked player said.
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Woods last won a Masters title in 2005, his fourth. But his presence has continued to loom large at Augusta.
In the nine years since his last Masters victory, Woods, 38, has missed a Top 10 finish only once and kept things close on many occasions. Those performances and Woods’ previous campaigns have cemented the annual tournament in Georgia as the preeminent contest in the game, and by far its most-watched.
In the run up to Tiger’s 2010 return (to pro golf, he temporarily left the tour after the 2009 Masters), Nielsen’s tallied up the final-round coverage for golf’s four majors since 1977 and, not surprisingly, Augusta claimed all top 10 broadcasts.
The Tiger Effect’s golden era appears to be between that fateful tournament in ’97 and 2001—years when Woods was electrifying the golf world and breathing new life into the game among younger audiences.
For his part, Mickelson will be vying for his fourth Masters title – something that would draw him even against his long-time rival.
That pursuit, alongside other storylines such as tournament favourite Rory Mcllroy’s quest to atone for his 2011 Masters meltdown, will create plenty of compelling moments for audiences.
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But Mickleson said what TV networks are thinking, too.
“I hope he’s back for the other majors, and as much as I want to win and I know how great he is and tough to beat, it also makes it – it makes it special when he’s in the field and you’re able to win.”
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