No denying impact of Tiger on golf this decade
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a national teleconference call last week and in various television interview that the PGA Tour would survive the absence of Tiger Woods for up to a year. And Finchem disputes the notion that “the world was coming to an end” because Woods is taking an indefinite leave from golf to deal with his tabloid-fueled personal issues.
Finchem may be right, but the number released by the tour for the decade that is coming to a close might suggest Woods is a little more important than even Finchem lets on. For instance:
Victories on the PGA Tour in the 2000s: That would be Woods, with 56 official victories, or 5.6 a year. Not bad considering he missed time with injuries. Vijay Singh was second at 26, followed by Phil Mickelson at 24. In other words, Woods had more victories than Singh and Mickelson combined.
Most majors in the 2000s: Again, it’s Woods on top with 12, or better than one a year for the decade. Take the next five guys combined — Mickelson (3), Padraig Harrington (3), Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen and Singh (2 each) — and you get 12. That’s the definition of dominance.
Most top-10s: Woods wins here again, but just barely. Woods had 121 top-10 finishes, while Singh had 118. The closeness here can also be attributed to the fact that Woods played about 10 tournaments a year less than Singh.
Most money: OK, it’s easy to figure this one out. Woods has $76,349,910 in official earnings in the decade.
International winners: Forty-five different international players won 152 total tournaments on the PGA Tour in the 2000s. Australia led the way with 12 different players earning 33 total victories. But it was Singh, from Fiji, with 26 victories himself who led the tour in international wins.
Rookies: Twenty-four rookies won on the PGA Tour in the decade. Of those, 14 went on to win at least one more event.
40-somethings: Singh, making a strong case for the second-best player of the decade, led an assault of players 40 and older on the tour. Thirty-nine players at least 40-years old won at least one event. Those players won a total of 86 times. Twenty-two of Singh’s victories came after his 40th birthday, an all-time tour record.
20-somethings: Woods was in his 20s for the first six years of the decade, so naturally he had the most victories of any player under 30. Woods had 31 victories in the 2000s before he turned 30, though a total of 117 titles were won by players in their 20s. That includes two by La Quinta’s Anthony Kim.
All those numbers speak volumes about how Woods was the most important player on the PGA Tour in the 2000s. And the tour would love to have Woods as the most important player in the 2010s, too. Which means the tour would like Woods back sooner rather than later.
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