Who Will Fill Tiger’s Shoes? McIlroy, Mickelson & 3 More To Watch For In 2010!
Well, there may be a small amount of gold in the hole that Tiger Woods has dug himself into, and that’s the fact that Sundays should be way more suspenseful and competitive this season! When Tiger was within single digits of the lead late Saturday, I know I wasn’t the only one who almost expected him to come back, seal the deal and walk away with a win.
With Tiger out of the picture during his indefinite leave, there’s a huge void that a handful of golfers can step into on any given Sunday. Will Phil Mickelson finally deliver on his years of potential and become the elite player, the flashes of which we’ve only seen occasionally? He ended the 2009 season on a high note and may be the de facto star of the Tour now, but he’ll need to start strong to keep his critics silent. Can John Daly’s new lean look lead to fatter paydays in 2010? He’s played pretty well in Australia recently, but a few good weeks does not mean he’ll hold it together, even if we’re all pullin’ for him. Anthony Kim is another name on a lot of lips right now, too.
There’s a strong crop of up-and-comers, too, who may benefit from a wide-open field this year. Rory McIlroy cracked into the world’s Top Ten rankings before being able to legally crack a beer here in the US, and a few early wins would only build the buzz around this guy. One more youngster to look out for is Rickie Fowler, who hasn’t won much (although he did lose in a PGA Tour playoff, which is about as close as you can come) and made it through Q-school before his 21st birthday. Check out the PGAs Top 100 Golfers To Watch In 2010 for a complete list of potential breakout stars!
There’s no doubt that the PGA Tour will miss having someone who can win, or at least be a threat to win, every week like Woods. Analysts are predicting losses of as much as $220 million in 2010 for the Tour, TV networks and golf merchandisers due to Tiger’s absence. They didn’t have to go back too far to get some numbers to back that estimate up: last Time Tiger left the sport (due to injury in 2008-2009 season), there was a 47% drop in TV Ratings The PGA is bracing for similar setbacks this year, something along the lines of a 20% drop in tournament attendance.
What do you all think? Get on the record NOW about who’ll be the biggest winner in 2010!
~Scratch
BONUS: Tiger might be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to athletes in the field of advertising
He’s got it made now. His wife’s divorcing him and he does not have to face her everyday. Divorce agreement will allow him to see his kids.
He can get rid of his mentors, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman and Michael Jordan. He can stop paying the “skanks” he’s been dating and start
going out with classy women like Alex Rodriquez does. He can go on Oprah and be contrite, and then win the Masters next Spring and all
the big companies will be begging him to endorse their products. this is a great country……………….
Which “classy women” of A-Rod’s are you referring to? Madonna? Disgraced NY governor Elliot Spitzer’s escorts [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29823664/]? Or Kate Hudson, who’s been with almost as many actors, singers & athletes as have stood on the stage at Saturday Night Live?
Also, if I were Tiger I’d stay far, far away from Oprah’s couch. (Just ask Tom Cruise how his last appearance on her show turned out!) He’s never going to win back any female fans who were shocked to find out he’s just another runaround athlete, and I don’t think many male golf fans would tune in just to see him spout more PR lines and half-apologizes. Any admiration he gains back will be based solely on his performance on the golf course.
No one will be able to fill Tiger’s shoes. His absence will hurt professional golf and TV ratings. I started playing golf in 2001 because of watching Tiger play on TV and have been addicted to the game ever since. What he did was let a lot of people down that believed in what they thought he stood for, but until he gets through this and gets back to playing on tour again, it will take it’s toll on the golf world.
of course you must be joking taking a survey ,asking who will fill Tigers shoes-1 Mickerson could not fill a bath tub with water let alone fill Tigers shoes
never on Sunday Phil now that is a joke–2 Mcllroy best young golfer to come along in the last three years,but needs to think about what he is doing he
hits the ball a mile but after that -what?–i am 80 years old and have seen the best of them,but nobody-nobody has Tigers brain on the course,ypu notice i said “on the course” Tiger will return,bigger and better he my hace lost some common sense but he will never lose his ability to do w
finish comment-what no one else can do –look at his record-his stats-then look at Mickersons stats and that ends the debate—————-