Does anyone get the feeling that the media is lukewarm with Vijay? I mean, they are certainly giving him his due, and telling all about his exploits this season, but they are not making him out to be a GOD the way they did in 1999-2001 like they did with Tiger.
He's never been particularly friendly with the media and he is also not nearly as popular as Tiger was, so the media is more hesitant to shower him with superlatives.
Tiger's popularity is a huge factor. Vijay isn't nearly as popular as Tiger is so he won't get the same amount of press given similar performances. Tiger was also dominant in the majors and won some in more than convincing fashion. Not to take anything away from Vijay but I don't think he'll ever get the same amount of "love" from the press given similar performances as Tiger.
True about the convincing wins there. Winning events by 15, 8, and 11 (off the top of my head so I could be wrong) strokes will tend to impress people enough to get in the habit of hyping up everything you do.
Tiger is basically today's icon for golf. He's so "huge" that Nike went around and built their whole brand around him. He also has the biggest impact on television ratings. If Tiger is entered in a tournament, the crowds will be larger and the television ratings will be better. Tiger has more impact on the game so I would expect the media to cover him more.
You are correct that the media doesn't make as big a deal out of Vijay but then again, I think they also give him a pass on stuff for which Tiger would get reamed!
Vijay carries his own clubs - he's a great guy because he gives his caddy a break after the round is over. Tiger does the same and he is "stiffing" a person who depends on tips.
Vijay withdrew from the AmEx because of no electricity and water in his house after the hurricane. I agree he should stay home with his family. But I can just hear some of those guys if it had been Tiger - like, sure, he's going to be squeegying water out of the house! Right! One of those guys would surely have written a column saying "so Tiger, take the family with you and spend some of those millions hiring people who are out of work from the hurricane to do the clean-up." LOL
I wonder if sometimes we forget that people like Tiger and Vijay are simply ordinary human beings with extraordinary talent. It is the images that people want not the people and if the person does not come up to the image they are often pilloried. The image will carry Tiger a long way with the media but if he does not come up with the 'goods' eventually they will tear him apart. That is the nature of the media.
Perhaps ordinary human and family values are more important to some than even winning a major.
i seriously wonder what effect tiger's father batttling cancer again had on his game..i know i sure couldnt be out practicing every day and working out 5 hours every day if my dad had cancer...
I have never been a fan of Vijay, especially after the comments he made when Annika played in the Colonial last year. So what if a worman plays in a PGA event? I think he was concerned she would beat him. She did not make the cut, neither did Sergio, Tom Lehman, or Scott McCarron.
I have never been a fan of Vijay, especially after the comments he made when Annika played in the Colonial last year. So what if a worman plays in a PGA event? I think he was concerned she would beat him. She did not make the cut, neither did Sergio, Tom Lehman, or Scott McCarron.
This is the real rift between Vijay and the press...he felt like the papers unduly lambasted him after the Annika comments. He quit talking to them altogether after being in the spotlight for that. I didn't agree with what he said...anyone who qualifies should be allowed to compete. I feel like Vijay is on a mission brought on partly by his experience with the press and partly from POY snub last year...he has proven himself as a champion and, unfortunately, as a chauvinist as well. But there have been others before him to the very same thing. Life goes on. Oh, btw, Annika has certainly justified all of her career decisions, in spite of the likes of Vijay.
...anyone who qualifies should be allowed to compete. Shade
VJ's comments were not about those who qualify to play on Tour. Annika did not qualify, she was playing on a sponsor's exemption. He got blasted by the media for saying what 1/2 (or more) of the guys in the locker room agreed with, but wouldn't say publicly. VJ apologized for his "I hope she misses the cut" comment but stood behind his feelings of not wanting to be paired with her. What male PGA pro would? I'm not a big VJ fan, but he took way too much heat for speaking his mind. Now he watches what he says very carefully and he's labeled a boring story. He can't win with the media either way.
Most every tournament has sponsors exemptions. Annika just was the recipient and happened to be female. I don't buy the argument she was taking away the spot of someone else - that can't be done with an exemption. An exeption if for someone who did not qualify because they think their presence could help the tournament.
You're right about the sponsors being able to use their exemption to invite whom ever they choose. That's nothing new, it's been going on for decades. Annika being being a female is what created the media frenzy......exactly what the sponsors were looking for.
The women playing on the PGA Tour issue has died the death it deserved. Until a woman can earn a PGA Tour Card (not in this lifetime ) you won't see them on Tour with any regularity. The "blush is off the rose." Golf fans want to see real golf competition, not a woman struggling to make a cut. Michelle Wie will probably play in the Sony Open at the start of next year, (another publicity seeking sponsor's exemption) but other than that, don't look for a woman to play a PGA Tour event again anytime soon.
League, I respectfully disagree with you on your contention that we won't see a female playing on the PGA tour "in this lifetime". In my opinion, the argument that all courses that the PGA plays would automatically eliminate a female from at least making the cut is wrong. Not every PGA member is as strong or as long as Vijay, JD & Tiger and yet they make an excellent living and even occasionally win.
What Annika and Michelle did was show young female golfers that it is "possible" to play with the boys and with the HUGE disparity in earning potential, I find it hard to believe that there are other young women out there who will not make the attempt and one or more of them may succeed.
One of the reasons that I love the PGA tour is that it is not exclusively the preserve of the jock athelete! Fat guys win, old guys win, self taught ugly swings win, and lots of people never win but year after year earn a good (very good, these days) income. With the thousands of young girls and women out there trying to be the best, I find it inconceivable that not a one of them will try to play in the best and richest tour in the world.
I find it hard to believe that there are other young women out there who will not make the attempt and one or more of them may succeed...... With the thousands of young girls and women out there trying to be the best, I find it inconceivable that not a one of them will try to play in the best and richest tour in the world.
You may find it hard to believe, but I don't. I know women want to believe that a woman can compete on the PGA Tour, but tell me how. Nothing is impossible but a woman earning her PGA Tour Card (and keeping it) is extremely improbable. Maybe there is a three year old girl out there somewhere that will grow up to play on the PGA Tour......and maybe there's aliens in a hanger in Area 51. Both are possible, but highly unlikely.
For every one of those "thousands of young girls and women out there" there's a young boy and a man doing exactly the same. I'm not being chauvinistic here, I'm being realistic. Face the facts...the best woman player in the world (and arguably the best woman player ever) will not, and could not, compete on the PGA Tour on a weekly basis. Yes, young girls and women will get better. Do you think the same doesn't hold true for the young boys and men?
Can you honestly say there's any female out there that could finish in the yearly top 125 on the PGA Tour? Is there a female out there that could gain her Tour Card by playing 6 rounds at the PGA Qualifying Tournament? There's a reason no female has tried it. It's called reality. Women have great talent in today's game. Just not enough talent to be successful trying to make a living playing against the top male players in the world on a daily basis. Because women want it to be, doesn't mean it will be.
Old guys, fat guys, and never win guys do make a good living playing the PGA Tour. Every one of them will eventually be replaced by younger, stronger, better male players. There's far, far too many lean, hungry, long and strong young male players out there today. Attend a Mini-Tour or Nationwide Tour event. Then attend an LPGA Tour event. I have, and believe me, it's not the same game. A woman playing full time on the PGA Tour is a female pipe dream. Sorry, but it's never going to happen.
Last edited by leaguegolf : September 30th, 2004 at 02:13 AM.
September 27th, 2004, 05:20 PM
Shade
) you won't see them on Tour with any regularity. The "blush is off the rose." Golf fans want to see real golf competition, not a woman struggling to make a cut. Michelle Wie will probably play in the Sony Open at the start of next year, (another publicity seeking sponsor's exemption) but other than that, don't look for a woman to play a PGA Tour event again anytime soon.
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