Tiger Still Impacts Ratings?

The WGC Bridgestone drew a 2.3 overnight rating on Sunday, off 51% from last year when he won and the same as 2008 when he didn't play. 

But hey, it was the highest rating any non-major PGA telecast since the final round of The Memorial in June (3.2).

So at least Tiger still can say he delivers a television audience. Or so it appears.

Tiger Working With...Stevie!? Definitely Not With Marty Hackel!

Golfweek posts some Getty images of Tiger's early morning practice at Whistling Straits. They reveal Stevie working harder than ever on Tiger's swing.

I know he's just holding a club on his head, but it really is a pathetic sight. Get this man a swing coach!

Meanwhile Robert Lusetich analyzes all things Tiger and brings his always fresh take to the table. And while you might laugh at the "Where's Marty Hackel When You Need Him?" portion of the piece, he does bring up a fair point about Tiger's goatee.

In retrospect, I should’ve known something was awry when Woods played the opening round with a goatee. I’ve seen him sporting facial hair many times when he arrives at tournaments, but by Thursday, he’s always clean shaven. Not this week.

I even asked him whether the goatee might face the razor after an opening 4-over 74, which was his worst-ever score at Firestone (Sunday‘s 77 has since replaced it in the record books).

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll see.”

Though it's not as awful looking as Jon Stewart's goatee, it's not exactly going to have the Accenture's knocking on his door. Or perhaps that's the point, he has accepted that things will never be the same. Particularly on the corporate endorsement front.

"does #1 really mean anything in golf?"

Because I'm under doctor's orders to only watch 15 minutes from every hour of televised golf at courses with bunkers surrounded by rough and/or back-and-forth tree-lined routings featuring indecipherable holes, my exposure to this weekend's No. 1 world ranking talk was limited. However, I noticed quite a bit of tweeting about Phil Mickelson "choking" at the chance to pass Tiger Woods in the world rankings.

I'd sum up my feelings on this vital chase for No. 1 in the world, but reader Mr. BoJangles did the heavy typing for me:

a little off topic, but does #1 really mean anything in golf? Seriously. Why is it even discussed? It doesn't help you win majors. The only thing I can think of is the Match Play pairings, you get a one-seed. Being Ranked #1 is meaningless in every sport except college football. What was Shrek ranked? Or Graham?

Someone told me Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 for a lot weeks back in his prime. And I was like, who cares? He won 2 majors.

If Phil takes No. 1 over Tiger, what does that mean, really? Tiger's won 14 majors, Phil's won [four]. Who's going to have the better golf career when they're both retired? Anyway, that's just my rant on the golf rankings and every other ranking for that matter. I think rankings are retarded and while I'm at it, college football needs a playoff system. That will never happen.

"Golfers themselves deserve part of the blame for insisting that putting surfaces be mown short and fast even in weather conditions in which such practices are almost certain to ruin them."

John Paul Newport does a nice job explaining why super low mowing heights are not a good thing, especially in the extreme conditions that much of the United States has experienced this summer. Considering it's the Wall Street Journal, hopefully this reached a few influential types who've been after their superintendent for more speed.

Grass does have a mechanism to cool itself. It's called evapotranspiration and is analogous to perspiration. The roots draw up water from the soil and it evaporates through the plant's leaves, dissipating heat. But when greens are scalped to a quarter-inch, an eighth of an inch and even shorter, the leaf surface available for transpiration declines.

Prolonged heat causes other problems. One is that root systems shrink, sometimes to within a half-inch of the surface, reducing the amount of water drawn up to the top. Humidity and heavy rain make things even worse. Humidity retards evaporation, while soggy soil stays hot longer than dry soil does. Puddles and saturated soil also create barriers that prevent needed oxygen from getting to the roots.

"Tiger Woods has never looked worse." **

77 final round at Firestone where in years past he could have shot that left-handed, on his knees in the rain.

Update on 2010-08-08 17:55 by Geoff

**Steve Elling on Sunday's round and the state of Tiger's game:

He's obviously going through tough stretches because his personal life has hurt his golf game," said Anthony Kim, who played alongside Woods on Sunday. "It's obviously not where he wants to be. But he's a tough guy. He's the most mentally tough guy you're going to meet, and I think he'll be fine.

"It's just a matter of time before golf becomes a priority to him again and he starts grinding and he starts winning golf tournaments."

If Kim's first-blush analysis is accurate, it's hard to imagine why golf isn't a priority for Woods already. The quickest way for him to rehab his image would be to reel off a win or two, but he's headed in completely the other direction, and Phil Mickelson had a chance to supplant him as world No. 1 if he finished fourth or better Sunday afternoon.

After the round, Woods looked as deflated, crestfallen, exhausted and downcast as anybody can recall seeing him, as a pro or amateur. He was the guy cleaning up after the horses in the parade, the caboose on the tournament train, and there's no indication there are brighter horizons coming.

This AP photo by Amy Sansetta says it all (thanks to reader Peter).

And we have our first in-print declaration by a golf writer suggesting that Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin pass up the chance to select Tiger Woods.

Pavin said he plans to meet with Woods this week at Whistling Straits to "gauge his interest" in participating in the Ryder Cup. Why bother? Woods' interest has never been stirred by these team events that he has privately considered an intrusive obligation on his time and talent.

Woods wisely never says anything publicly about his distaste for what he considers an over-hyped exhibition with no upside or financial benefits. But he never goes out of his way to sound excited about the biennial affair either.

In a news conference before this week's WGC event at Firestone, Woods gave the same robotic response to three successive questions trying to ferret out his enthusiasm for being a captain's pick if necessary.

"I'm planning on playing my way into the team," he repeated.

That arrogance-masked-as-humor was easier to stomach when Woods could back it up with his clubs. Now that he seems incapable at the moment of summoning up greatness by the sheer force of his will, he could have simply said, "I plan to play my way on, but if I don't I hope my captain understands that I want to be there and help the U.S. retain the cup in any way I can."

“The response from the general public was tremendous."

If you tune into the 3M Championship this week take note that it's a free-admission week. Just in case you were wondering why there was a nice sized crowd at an old geezer's event.

Yet Another Reason Captain Pavin Should Thank Captain Azinger

With only one week left for Woods to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team on points, it's looking less and less likely that he will make the team on points, leaving Captain Corey Pavin with a tough decision to make: to select Woods with one of four Captain's picks.

Now, some of you will surely let me know that it's unfathomable to leave Tiger off the team, and the other American options aren't exactly enticing when you look at his breakdown. But the Americans did take the Cup back in 2008 without Woods and unless he shows dramatic improvement over his next ten rounds, it's hard to see him helping the team this year.

In the past, this Captain's decision would be made the Sunday night after next week's PGA, but you'll recall that part of Paul Azinger's sweeping changes for 2008 included four captain's selections to be made well after the PGA, closer to the Cup. To refresh my memory, I tweeted Azinger for confirmation:

Pavin now has until September 7th to make his selections.

In a newly posted interview, the Captain talks about how he's confident Woods will make the team on points and sounds like he'll pick him if necessary.

But the other looming question remains: would Tiger accept a Captain's pick. This week it sure didn't sound that way.

Thanks to Captain Azinger, this won't be an issue for another month.