Woods’ 2009 season could benefit LPGA Tour

2009 has been a strange year for Tiger Woods and one he will surely want to forget in a hurry. But the problems surrounding the world number one could prove beneficial for the LPGA.

The year kicked off in earnest with Woods’ long awaited return of in the WGC Accenture Match Play championship where he lost in the second round to Australia’s Tim Clark. After finishing in 9th place at the WGC-CA Championship, he went on to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational after overhauling a five-shot deficit in the final round and there was high expectation that Tiger would add to his haul of majors.

Strangely for the world number one, 2009 proved a fruitless season on the major front. He finished sixth in the US Masters behind veteran Argentinian player, Angel Cabrera and surprisingly showed signs of temperament as he crashed out of the British Open at Turnberry after missing the cut – only the second time he has missed the cut in a major since turning professional.

At the US Open, held at Bethpage Black, New York, Woods struggled in persistent rain and high winds to tie for sixth place, behind eventual winner Lucas Glover, and then failed to close a final-round lead in the US PGA at Hazeltine, allowing South Korean YE Yang to overhaul a two-shot deficit and win the season’s final major. It marked the first time that Woods would fail to win a major when leading or co-leading after 54 holes and the first time he had lost any tournament on American soil when leading by more than one shot.

Although he would finish the season with six tournament wins, his achievements in 2009 are hugely overshadowed by his off-the-course problems and the media revelations of extra-marital affairs with a host of women, which culminated in his crashing his SUV into a fire-hydrant outside his Florida home on Thanksgiving night.

Since then, there has been wild speculation about both the player and his wife, Elin Nordegren who has reportedly been seen in public without her wedding band, while several of Tiger’s sponsors have stated their intention to re-examine their endorsements with the player. To add insult, a doctor who had treated Woods was reported to be under investigation by the FBI for supplying prohibited substances to athletes and also the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on other charges.

Tiger also became a father again for the second time when Elin gave birth to son, Charlie Axel in February. The couple also have a daughter, Sam Alexis, who was born on June 18, 2007.

Since the furore surrounding his private life surfaced, Woods has announced an indefinite leave of absence from the game to concentrate on his marriage and it remains to be seen if or when he will return to the Tour, and when he does whether he be the same player he was before his troubles became public.

All this however, leaves the PGA with a huge problem – who can take up the mantle left by Woods in the meantime? Tiger isn’t just the best player on the tour; he is also perhaps the most popular and charismatic and the one the crowds on the course and on TV come to see play. It’s hard to envisage Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink or any other player on the Tour filling the void he has left.

Love him or loathe him, while Woods is absent from the Tour, the game will have lost much of its attraction for fans around the globe. However, Tiger’s absence may be good news for the LPGA, who already have a hero of their own in the shape of Michelle Wie, and whose own fan appeal has gathered significant pace since her Solheim Cup appearance and subsequent maiden tournament win.

With fans looking for a new idol to latch onto, Wie could be the one to really boost the women’s game and the LPGA could well benefit from any defection of Tiger’s fans, and with sponsors possibly reluctant to buy into events where Tiger doesn’t appear, the presence of Wie in LPGA events could be a potential draw instead for those looking to invest in the sport.