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Column: It’s Tiger’s world

By Brad Minkow
March 18, 2008

The most dominating athlete in sports today does not wear a facemask, batting helmet or basketball shorts. He does not throw, catch or shoot a ball. Instead, he commands his competition by swinging woods and irons in the comfort of black dress slacks.

Without a doubt, Tiger Woods is currently the best golfer in the world, if not of all time. And with every new shot, win and fist pump, Woods is furthering the claim that he might be the most dominating athlete in over a century.

With Sunday’s win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods’ fifth straight PGA Tour victory (sixth including international competition), the inevitable thought that Woods could make a run at an undefeated season was once again proposed.

Down seven strokes heading into the weekend, experts and spectators alike knew better than to count Woods out. The push came quickly and entering Sunday, Woods was in front with history forecasting another consecutive victory.

In unusual fashion, the most recent victim, Bart Bryant, sat in the clubhouse hoping for a playoff with Woods, who was heading onto the final green tied at nine strokes under par. But as Woods had done to a plethora of victims in the past, he sank a seemingly impossible 25-foot birdie putt as if it were an innocent two-footer to win the tournament.

The victory gave Woods his 64th career win, tying Ben Hogan for third all-time. Within reach of Sam Snead’s record of 82 at the young age of 32, Woods appears primed to surpass his predecessor. While it took Snead 423 career starts to set the mark, Woods remains 18 back with only 219 career starts.

To put Woods’ chances into perspective, he has won 29.2 percent of all tournaments he has participated in. If that trend continues, Woods will only need 65 more starts, 139 fewer than Snead, to overtake Snead as he has every other opponent. With regard to the sport’s most elusive statistic, Woods lies only five majors short of Jack Nicolas’ record 18 major victories.

And while a couple of records and accolades elude Woods for the time being, he has already revolutionized golf and reshaped the business of sport. Woods has elevated golf from a dying spectator sport to a resurging opportunity for a younger, stronger, more athletic generation through his enthusiasm, and clutch performances.

Economically, Woods has elevated sports to an even higher level. His career earnings totaling almost $80 million and annual endorsements of more than $100 million per year, and according to Sports Illustrated, Woods is surmounting annual incomes by more than $112 million, more than Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Libran James combined. For a sport once lagging in popularity, Woods has created an endorsement empire.

Despite more than 100 competitors in the field at each tournament, Tiger Woods finds ways to win almost 30 percent of the time. Fellow golfers, like Bryant, no longer anguish in defeat, as Woods is more like a “winning machine” than a fellow human.

As Woods comes closer to PGA records and $1 billion in endorsements, one can only wonder if a golfer is the most dominating athlete of all time. He has overshadowed his competition like few, if any, athletes, with no end in sight. It is Tiger Woods’ world and we are simply witnesses.