Notification

Coming Soon...

OK
Cross icon
X

Something went wrong!
Please try again later.

EXPAND Cross icon

EXPANDING


Loader

TIGER WOODS to finally return to Golf! - Share you opinion.

image
Posted by Dinesh Thakur 17 Mar 2010

ORLANDO, Florida — Scandal-rocked Tiger Woods making his return to golf at next month's Masters after a five-month layoff will rival the inauguration of US President Barack Obama as a television spectacle.

That's the opinion of Sean McManus, the CBS News and Sports president whose division will produce US coverage of a global ratings blockbuster April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club following Woods' comeback announcement Tuesday.

"I think the first tournament Tiger Woods plays ... will be the biggest media event other than the Obama inauguration in the past 10 or 15 years," McManus told Sports Illustrated before Woods announced his return plans.

"It is hard to overestimate how much interest there will be. Tiger Woods is the most famous, most recognized, most accomplished athlete in the world, and his celebrity and prominence is even larger than it was.

"Whatever he does on the golf course for the first time since Thanksgiving will be of interest to almost every man and women in this country."

ESPN will televise US coverage of the first two rounds of the Masters with CBS taking over for weekend coverage.

Woods drew a global audience on February 19 in his first public appearance simply to watch him stand at a podium and apologize for his misdeeds, an adultery scandal in which more than a dozen women claimed sex affairs with him.

"When you look at the fact that he gave a very simple press statement with no questions and every broadcast and cable news network in America carried it with great interest, I think that's an indication that whatever he does has enormous interest."

Crowds at the Masters are typically well behaved, so Woods might not face the hecklers that could bother him at other events.

"We will primarily report on what is happening at the golf tournament," said McManus. "I don't think there is a lot of reason to dwell on what has happened in the past because it is one of the most exploited and overexposed stories in recent memory.

"But I will be fascinated to hear ... what Tiger is doing on the course, how he is reacting, how the fans react, how the media reacts, and how his fellow competitors have reacted. Those will all be fascinated stories."

ESPN television commentator Curtis Strange anticipates greater excitement because Woods is back but also said that Woods' off-course troubles will be fair game for questions for some time to come.

"I hope he's not too standoffish. That's not going to endear him to the fans," Strange said on ESPN. "I think he will handle it the way he has handled it in the past, to the point, but not give people a lot.

"It's the start of the rest of his career. It's not about winning or losing. It's about getting started."

About 43 million people in America watched Woods win the 1997 Masters, the first major triumph for a black golfer. That's still a US record for a Masters telecast -- for another month at least.

Woods became the first athlete with one billion dollars in earnings last year before the scandal hit, in large part because of rich endorsement deals that shriveled in the wake of his sex scandal.

Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade dropped Woods while Nike, Woods video game maker Electronic Arts and Gillette stayed with Woods and offered supportive statements Tuesday on notification of his return to golf.

"We look forward to Tiger's return to the Masters and seeing him back on the course," a Nike statement said.

"All eyes will be on Augusta in a few weeks," said a statement from Electronic Arts, which debuts a new edition of the Woods video game in June. "We're looking forward to seeing Tiger back on the golf course."

"Like many sports fans around the world, we're looking forward to seeing Tiger back on the course," said a statement by Gillette.

  • image

    Dinesh Thakur 28 Oct 2010

    I viewed a 1 hour documentary in a flight on "Rise and Fall of Tiger woods" .... and believe me, I was quiet amazed to learn on how much of role his Dad played in the making of 'Tiger Woods' ... including the scandals. What was most astonishing was the kind of US army trainings, specially related to mental strength and focus that Tiger was put through at a very young age. The name TIGER was given by Earl Woods (Tiger's father) after the name of his very close friend in Thailand, during the Vietnam war. ..... A must see documentary ... you will change your prospective towards TIGER .... for the better.. :-)

    0
  • Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

    Yes No">No
  • image

    Nauhar Rana 22 Mar 2010

    I dont think the MEN will boo him as most of us would be hypocrites for doing that...women---maybe(and then they may slip Stevie their number to give him later) NO,but jokes apart-we all love TIGER for the entertainment he gives us on the GOLF COURSE---none of us gave a rat's butt how good a husband or Dad he was and we probably never will......

    0
  • Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

    Yes No">No
  • image

    Devdarshan Chakrabortyy 21 Mar 2010

    The most interesting part to watch will be the beeline of sponsors who will now try to woo him if he plays well! Will it be serious/ performance brands he was/is with, like Accenture and Nike or bolder brands like Red Bull and Sports cars?

    0
  • Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

    Yes No">No
  • image

    Dinesh Thakur 19 Mar 2010

    what i am waiting to see is if the gallery will cheers for him or will there be some BOO's ... i fear there will so some BOO's for sure ...

    0
  • Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

    Yes No">No
  • image

    Karan Pal Singh Sirohi 18 Mar 2010

    Its great for Golf and great for Tiger too. No one can rehab sitting at home. One has to do what ones does best to overcome situations like this. Any one not liking it is out of sheer frustration or jelousy.

    0
  • Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

    Yes No">No
Hours
Minute
Second
Rolex
#

WANT TO GET STARTED?

Sponsored Links