Freddie Couples did his opposite number Greg Norman a big favour today.. he named Tiger to his Presidents Cup team..
When Couples was asked for the 9 millionth time at the Boeing Championship about picking Tiger for his Presidents Cup squad, he finally relented to the constant pecking by an insatiable media and said "Tiger is in, he is the best player forever"
Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel wrote a fine article today and I concur with his premise that this is all about ratings for the Presidents Cup, not about Tigers stellar play and his mediocre Presidents Cup record.
For me the game of golf comes first, and an informative and entertaining portrayal of each tournament is our journalistic challenge, but as long as Tiger is breathing and swinging a golf club, he will be vaunted by all aspects of the media in North America who are ALL DRIVEN BY RATINGS and that means his 84's being as important as his 64's, and that means whether he wins or loses it is what is happening with Tiger that matters,.. the result of the golf tournament is secondary.
The danger here is that his reign of dominance is over, but TV will never let go, they are paying too much, have to much at stake and will do until Tiger decides to follow Budda into a monastery.....then they will follow his progress on the first annual Tiger Tibetan Pro Am....
Here are the key reasons for Freddie's decision.
*Freddie is tired of the constant media pecking and speculation.. that is now done
*Tiger guarantees top TV ratings to a USA dominated Presidents Cup
*Tiger couldn't be in Australia playing their Open the week before without being part of this team, could you imagine him sitting watching from his hotel room .
*To hell with all the others like Rickie Fowler who are more qualified than Tiger to play for his country, they will wait without complaint.
* Tigers Presidents Cup record (1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007) 13-11-1 3-7-0 7-2-1 3-2-0 that means 13-11-1 overall for the worlds best at those times.. Hardly dominating but enough for Freddie to point to if challenged.
* It's a long shot, but Tiger could have a spectacular weekend, regain the form of old, get back his confidence, lead the USA fist pumping to victory in far away Australia... well I said it's a long shot.. but it's the one the PGA tour and those who cover it are praying for..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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