In the early 2000’s when Tiger Woods was making his rounds, he did many things for golf. Most importantly, he made golf popular in a way that it had not been before. It was an era that some called TigerMania. The American pro golfer’s name was everywhere. People could not know the basics about golf and still recognize the name. However, Brandel Chamblee, despite having so much praise for Woods, has said that he inadvertently led to the rising costs of the sport.
Praise For Tiger Woods
On The Smylie Show, Chamblee started talking about Tiger Woods and the impact of his legacy. As well as how it relates to the rise of LIV Golf. Specifically, how Tiger Woods’ legacy led to the renegade league’s founding in 2022. Brandel Chamblee essentially said that Tiger Woods managed to take the game of golf, a sport that has long been derided as boring, and made it cool. How Woods’ domination of the sport led to it being reintroduced to the Olympic Games. How Woods’ legacy brought in so much money for the PGA that the headquarters looks like “the Taj Mahal”. For his work, Chamblee has labeled Woods as the “most underpaid athlete in the history of sport”. Even with how Woods was essentially the mascot of the PGA in the 2000s.
Woods Legacy Created LIV According To Chamblee
Chamblee then gets to LIV, pushing the purses to be elevated. Sure, LIV increased the purses with all the generous contract payouts and more money being on the line, but LIV wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for Woods. According to Chamblee, Tiger Woods was the foundation that LIV Golf used to change the sport in the way it has. Interest just wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for Woods.
Rising Costs
Golf was already an expensive sport, just for the players alone, due to equipment costs. However, Brandel Chamblee thinks that this is the one place where Tiger Woods inadvertently created issues for the sport.
“The unintended effect of it is that he made the game hugely expensive.” Chamblee said, “way more expensive golf clubs, way more expensive to join clubs. I am not going to say that is Tiger’s fault, but that is the impact of TigerMania.”
Chamblee is correct on the prices. Brand-name clubs often run up hundreds of dollars. The TaylorMade Qi10 Driver that Rory McIlroy loves so much can run up to six hundred dollars if there isn’t a sale on the TaylorMade website. The green fees at the course that often hosts PGA events can be easily over a thousand dollars. Chamblee believes that the rising costs are due to Woods making the sport more popular.
Golf After Woods
Tiger Woods has left a deep impact on golf. In his prime, he was the world No. one for ten years, his name and face were on everything PGA, and he has made the sport as popular as it is today. So much so that LIV Golf was created to get a slice of that pie. However, the rising costs of the sport are a barrier. Tiger Woods has done so much for the sport, but the way Chamblee sees it, there is an unfortunate consequence for the sport that was already expensive.
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