HERE is an indication of how far Tiger Woods has come in ten years as a professional. When he tied for 60th place at the Greater Milwaukee Open on September 1, 1996, he was given a cheque for $2,544. This year he is earning $2,512 (about £1,300) for every stroke he takes.
Woods is the highest-paid sportsman on the planet. Forbes magazine estimated that he pocketed $87 million last year, $27 million more than Michael Schumacher, the Formula One driver who is second on the list.
In his first season as a professional, Woods earned $13.1 million from winnings and endorsements. That has increased so substantially that Golf Digest magazine said this year that he had earned $547 million and would be a dollar billionaire by the end of 2010, when he will be 35.
Woods joined the professional ranks with $60 million of sponsorship from Nike and Titleist, the ball manufacturer. He added American Express a month after he won his first Masters in 1997 and now his sponsors include Accenture, Buick and TAG Heuer.
Ask not what Woods has earned for himself, though, but what he has done for his sport. In 1996, golf was in the doldrums, in need of a superstar to pep it up. It was ten years since Jack Nicklaus had won his last major championship. Greg Norman, the most marketable player since Nicklaus, had just choked for the last time. The victor at Augusta that year was Nick Faldo, the best player since Nicklaus, also nearing the end of his career.
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Enter a thin 20-year-old with a big reputation, having won the US Amateur for the third year in a row. What is staggering is that Woods exceeded all the hype. After the tournament in Milwaukee, he was eleventh at the Bell Canadian Open before coming in the top five at his next five events, winning two. The next spring, he won the first of his 12 major titles to date.
The television audience for the final day of the Masters was the highest for a golf tournament and it led to a new television contract a month later that increased the amount of money on the US tour by 40 per cent. Viewing figures for golf, until a recent plateau, increased every year, bringing greater wealth for all.
The tour’s prize fund this season is more than $257 million, nearly four times that in 1996. Last year, 78 players earned more than $1 million, compared with nine in 1996. Next year, a new television deal could mean an extra $3 billion over six years.
“It’s been beneficial for every player,” Phil Mickelson, the world No 2, said. “I thank him every chance I get.” There has also been a Tiger effect in encouraging others to take up the sport, particularly those from ethnic minority communities. According to a study two years ago by Indiana University, there was a 5 per cent annual growth in the number of players since Woods became a professional.
Perhaps Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, was right when he said after his son’s third professional tournament: “All those people who think [he] was overpaid will realise one day what a bargain he was.”