Tiger Woods Defeated

Tiger Woods lost in the second round of match play on Thursday, to Tim Clark. Obviously, Tiger isn't quite up to his own lofty standards just yet. But his return this week has made me ponder something about him and the PGA Tour in general. Is Tiger's dominance good or bad for golf? Yes, when he plays and when he plays well ratings are higher for the events and the galleries are much bigger. Everyone wants to see how often Tiger can win and how much he can win by. I believe that this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the sport, in actuality Tiger has made the sport bigger than it has ever been, but there is a way it could get even bigger. If someone rises up in the sport, like Anthony Kim or Camillo Villegas (no, not Sergio), and is capable of challenging and beating Tiger on a more frequent basis, then more people will be entertained. While Tiger's recent dominance over the field is always going to be a storyline, I think that if he has a true rival, like Jack did in his heyday, then the sport will become massive. And his rival can't be someone that has already tried and failed, they are old news. So, Phil and Ernie you're out. Sergio Garcia seems completely incapable of being a force in major tournaments, I'm not saying he won't win one, but he will never be anything close to Tiger in terms of what he does in the majors. It has to be a young, fearless player who has the determination to take the leap. It needs to be someone like Anthony Kim, Villegas, or even young Rory Mcilroy. But I wouldn't expect any of this to happen, Tiger is just that much better.