PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has advised golf fans to be prepared for the day with the current 14-time Major winning Tiger Woods no longer competes on the world stage.

Woods is presently taking a break from the game and, despite rumors he may tee-up in the Shell Houston Open, he’s not expected back to competition until the April 9th starting Masters at Augusta National.

However despite some problems with my Australian accent Finchem managed to answer my question, and also at great length, when asked the impact on the game of golf in general of Woods being absent from events such as this week’s WGC – Cadillac Championship.

Hereunder is Finchem’s full response to my question.

“I don’t have any idea when he’s going to achieve what he said he wants to achieve, and that is a comfort level that he can compete and win tournaments,” said Finchem.

“You know, we are very aware of his attitude in that regard, going way back to when he
came on the TOUR. And it was I think 1997, his second year on the TOUR, when he really started focusing on a schedule that he felt contributed the best to his ability to win.

“And obviously when he got to be No. 1 player in the world, didn’t take him very long, that
wasn’t a schedule that makes a lot of people happy. So we’re very familiar historically with his focus and commitment to doing everything that he needs to do physically and preparation‐wise, scheduling‐wise to win. But I don’t know what the answer to that is.

Tim Finchem advises the golf world to prepare for the day Tiger Woods no longer will be competing on the world stage.

“To answer the other part of your question is, how concerned are we about him stepping away; you know, it’s the same thing we had in 2012. We had it for a period of time in 2009 and 2010.

“So it’s good news, bad news. I mean, it’s more bad news than good news because it’s like Michael Jordan stepping away to play baseball that year. He’s your No. 1 player. He’s the player that on balance fans want to watch play more than any other.

“I think as I’ve said before, I think that will last a long time, that piece, just because how many other players can you watch that have won 78 PGA TOUR events.

“On the other hand, if I had this job for 50 more years, and I knew I was going to live that long, there would be a point in there when he can’t play golf anymore. So sooner or later, it’s always going to happen. I remember how long it took for all of us, fans, media, to come to grips with Jack stepping away. It took years. Nobody wanted to let Jack go and finally he started playing some on the Champions Tour.

“It’s going to happen. So the more relevant question is, how bad is it when it happens. We need other stars to develop. They are going to develop more without Tiger dominating television coverage and media coverage. There’s no question in my mind. And the instances I cited where he has stepped away, in 2010 and 2012, that happened. It’s just more players get more exposure. So that’s a good thing.

“Again, I think most people look at it and say, boy, what is the PGA tour going to do without Tiger. Well, Tiger has played 16, 17 events a year. That leaves 30 he didn’t play every year. Every one of those tournaments has grown every year, every year. It’s not about that.

“The PGA TOUR is going to be fine. But when you lose your No. 1 player, in a time when
he’s still in an age where he can really play if he can get back to that level; it’s not going to let you perform at the same level as you would with him.

“That’s true. But during his period, and he has had a lot to do with this; the TOUR has grown. It’s gotten a bigger fan base. He’s brought a lot of people to the game. That’s a contribution that he will have made whether he stops playing now or whether he stops playing in 15 years.

“So you just have to keep going and keep growing, and hope that the players that come behind him are not just great players, but they can play consistently for a long period of time, and they are the kind of personality that can generate interest.

“The thing about Tiger is that he wasn’t just a great player. He was a unique individual from a lot of different perspectives. He captivated people, and hopefully you will see that again. But as I’ve said often times, the PGA TOUR has grown in periods of parity and it’s grown in periods where we’ve had a dominant player.

“Fans seem to like both. They are just different. And our job is to take whatever we have to deal with and make it work.

“And thus far, if you go back and look at the times Tiger was out and you look at television ratings and you look at sponsorship arrangements and the rest, there isn’t anything there that would tell you that we should be wringing our hands. We should be continuing to do the work we’ve been doing.”

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