Tiger Woods Masters fitness update hands boost to golf TV channels
Broadcasters’ prospects of attracting bumper viewing figures for the Masters have been boosted after Tiger Woods said he hoped to play at Augusta next month.
Woods made his competitive return in the finals of TGL, the hybrid golf league he founded with Rory McIlroy, on Tuesday night. And although the 50-year-old’s Jupiter Links team lost out to an Los Angeles Golf Club side featuring Englishmen Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, he came through the Masters dry run with a clean bill of health.
The 15-time Major winner’s boost to TV ratings – dubbed “the Tiger Woods effect” – has endured despite only sporadic appearances in recent years, with broadcasts typically enjoying uplift of 20-30 per cent when he plays.
“I want to play,” Woods said of the Masters, which starts on 9 April. “I’ve loved the tournament, I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old so it’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years and I’m going to be there either way.
“We’ll see how it goes. I’ll be practising, playing, and keep trying to make progress. It feels good to be back but I would have liked it to be better circumstances. That’s the way sport is – you put yourself out there and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and you deal with it.”
Viewing figures are higher when Woods plays
Woods at Augusta remains one of golf’s most iconic sights. His Major breakthrough came at the Masters in 1997 and he defied chronic injury to win the Green Jacket for a fifth time in 2019.
Last year’s tournament saw US broadcaster ESPN’s viewing figures for the first round drop 28 per cent year on year – a change attributed to Woods’s absence.
Fitness will be the deciding factor in his bid to tee up for a 27th time, so his ability to hit 300-yard drives in the TGL Finals lifted spirits – despite a 9-2 defeat which wrapped up a 2-0 series win for LAGC.
“It was fine physically,” added Woods, who has never missed the cut at the Masters as a pro. “I had a couple of drives I had to hit and a couple of putts… it was a lot of fun to be a part of it.
“We got our ass kicked at the end. Three eagles in a row, we didn’t respond. I missed a short one to kind of get it started and give them momentum and we never got it back.
“I’m frustrated that we didn’t get it done, we had opportunities like last night – we should have won that match – and they steam-rolled us at the end.”