Adapted from “Crain & Co.,” April 11, 2024.
Jake: The 2024 Masters begins today. Love him or hate him, Tiger Woods is the most impactful player to his sport in my lifetime — and possibly ever. There’s a good argument there. And if this weekend is his last go around at the Masters, and regardless of how well he plays or if he makes the cut, I am just thankful I got to be around to watch his rise, his fall, and his rise again.
Never before have I seen one man make a whole sport cool around the globe. He completely changed the way the game is played. He played the villain and the hero, made incredibly clutch shots in huge moments, and overcame adversity time and time again.
Growing up in our house, I loved watching Tiger and my father loved rooting against him because of his “on the course antics.” He was a little bit different in the way that he handled himself. But it didn’t matter how you felt about Tiger Woods: You were going to watch him. And that’s the most important thing. We saw him make grown men melt in front of our eyes, and he took over the sporting world over and over.
Has Tiger made some questionable choices in his past? Without a doubt. But that is all part of what’s been the Tiger Woods Experience. And unfortunately, we will never see someone do what he has done in the game of golf again, or maybe any other sport. But in golf, they don’t have to be concerned because Tiger’s already elevated the sport so much, from one poll to the other, that golf is here to stay in the forefront for the long haul.
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In the discussion of the most impactful player to their sport, no other player’s impact on the game of golf compares to Tiger’s and the way he elevated the sport in every aspect. (I emphasize player because the most impactful person to their sport is the person who invented it because without that, none of this would even be possible.) But is there anybody that’s been more impactful than Tiger?
David: Well, no. Now, he may not be the greatest athlete of all time. For example, Wayne Gretzky, who we mentioned earlier this week, is just head and shoulders above everyone who has ever played hockey. But if you’re going to use the word “impactful,” then it would have to be Tiger Woods.
It just so happens that when Tiger was coming around and dominating, we were of the age we were interested and able to see his career unfold. That’s always going to be a part of our upbringing. But to prove his impact, you can look at the data when it comes to the sport. And I think he’s one of the first billionaire athletes as well, certainly the first billionaire golfer.
We should be thankful that he’s going to be competing in this Masters. I don’t know how well he will do, and I don’t know if he’ll make the cut — though his odds did improve overnight. They were +12,000 Wednesday and +10,000 today (Thursday). But it was just February 2021 when Tiger got in his car accident and people wondered if he would ever even walk again. And now, he’s going to be walking the greens at Augusta National this week. So for that, we should be thankful.
Jake: Blaine, is Tiger going to win? Is he going to make the cut?
Blaine: When it comes to the Masters, you just want to be close. You want to be in shooting range on Sunday where you can make a run. And I don’t think people realize how dominant Tiger was during his run. Looking at stats, for Scottie Scheffler to catch Tiger’s total weeks spent at number one, he would need to be at the top every week for 12 years and three days.
Jake: Well, enjoy your pimento cheese sandwiches, fathers and sons, and let’s see if Tiger can go on the prowl once again in Augusta.
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Jake Crain is co-host of Crain & Company, the Daily Wire’s sports show hosted by former athletes and coaches Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone. Follow him: @JakeCrain_
Blain Crain is co-host of Crain & Company at The Daily Wire and a former wide receiver for Western Colorado University. Follow Blain: @Blain_Crain
David Cone is a co-host and producer of the Daily Wire’s sports show Crain & Company, as well as a contributor to Morning Wire. David is also a former quarterback for the University of Michigan. Follow him: @davidadamcone