Golf is seen as a boring game and it will be seen like that for most people, except for those who got to watch Tiger Woods. This generation of players have fantastic game when it comes to the golfers like Jordan Spieth, the bomber Rory McIlory and also the fashionable Rickie Fowler. But there has never been a golfer with the talent, excitement and overall dominance like Tiger. Keep in mind, golf is not a sport that you just dominate. There were so many great players that played during Tiger’s era that never got the respect that they deserved, because he would come out and win almost every week.
Just in case some of you guys don’t remember how good Tiger was, I've got some numbers for you. Tiger has won 25 percent of the events he has played in his career, he has won 14 major championships, 79 PGA tournaments, he won the U.S. Open in 2000 by 15 strokes (that wasn’t a typo), he has spent 682 weeks and 13 years at #1 in World Golf Rankings, he made over 142 straight cuts, he won five or more golf tournaments in a year 10 times and the incredible stats go on and on. But there is more to greatness than just numbers.
Not only did he dominate, but he turned the game into something we have never seen before. The insanely cool fist pumps after a long putt, the amazing shots he would pull off in clutch situations, and the insanely far drives that he hit were incredibly new at the time, but now if you hit it less than 300 yards, you are considered a short hitter. Players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have hit unbelievable shots in their careers, but you saw a crazy shot almost every week with Tiger. He turned the impossible into possible and did it with ease. Ball buried in the lip of the bunker? No problem. He'll just hit it to a foot. 220 yards from a fairway bunker over water? Piece of cake. These were scenarios that everyone thought no golfer could pull of, but Tiger proved everyone wrong.
He also made golf fun again and entertaining to watch. When you watched Tiger, you were never going to be disappointed. You would see probably four or five 30-foot putts go in, five or six incredible iron shots, at least six of his famous "stinger" shots (coolest golf shot ever created) and more than likely two or three fist pumps that had chills running down your spine. Honestly, without Tiger, we wouldn’t have as many golfers on tour and outside the tour, because after people watched what he did on the course, they wanted to go play golf. He truly made the game fun. If you were to ask any golfer who their inspiration was, I’d be betting my money that they would say Tiger because of what he brought with him into golf. I can personally say that he made me want to pick up a golf club and get better.
I believe what makes him one of the best athletes of all time isn’t just because of his records; it is his overall impact on golf. He has influenced so many people to pick up the game of golf like no other golfer could and that is just a testament to how good of an ambassador he is for the sport. Without him, who knows if we would have Jordan Spieth or Rory and players along those lines. He may be the greatest golfer of all time, but I believe because of his overall impact on golf and how dominant he was, he is one of the best athletes of all time.
