Players Championship not the same without Tiger Woods

Actually, I live here in Jacksonville, FL and was at the tournament today and quite frankly, I did not see anyone sulking because Tiger was not here. Additionally, it surely did not appear that everyone was staying home either and this was a Friday (took me an hour to get out of the place). Fact of the matter is, Tiger is rarely in contention at The Players and has gone on record as saying the course is "gimmicky" and #17 should be on the front ... huh? Don't get me wrong, Tiger is definitely the best player ever as far as I am concerned, but I would love to see the NBC ratings when Tiger is in contention vs. when he is not vs. when he is not even in the tournament. I bet when he is not in contention, the stats are comparable to when he is not there at all.

Without Tiger the electricity and magic isn't there...

It's interesting that the article, in defending the media's overemphasis on Woods, resorts to the same hyberbole it defends. Woods does not, in fact, win nearly every tournament he enters. Don't get me wrong, the man is tremendously consistent. But it is a slap in the face to the game, the fans, and the other players to give as much coverage to Tiger when he's 5, 6, 10 or more shots back as to the leaders. And this happens often. Longtime golf fans (and I'm one) get tired of the all-Tiger, all the time coverage because of this tremendous imbalance.

The errant logic on the part of the media is that it's good business for the game to give Tiger this coverage--that this brings attention and interest (and money) to the game. I would argue that a stronger, more solid game is developed with a democratic fan base that's naturally spread among players. Great golf is played by great players every week. Let their fans enjoy and celebrate that. Let the regular folks at home notice that as well. That's what's best for the game.

Tiger may be good and a nice fellow, but American sports writers have no idea how sick many of us are of all the hype. My family and I have immensely enjoyed the Players Championship because Tiger has not been there and to have to listen to all the sickening talk about him. In fact as much as we like golf, many times we do not bother to watch anymore if Tiger is playing and I know many others are the same way.

I have to admit I watched "The Players Championship" while reading a good book,just looked up once in a while to check the score,it just ain't the same without TW,hurry back Tiger we all miss you.