Tiger Woods Raises the Level of the PGA Tour

Tiger Woods has dominated golf. He is far and away the most recognizable figure in sports and perhaps in the world. Since joining the PGA Tour in 1996, Tiger has done what only a handful of athletes have ever been able to do – he has exceeded his own hype. In a sport where the sole focus is on individual achievement and success, it is difficult to fathom the impact that Woods has had on the players around him and the game itself.

Great players take their games and the games of those around them to a higher level. In football, Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana were able to elevate the players around them and thus brought their entire teams to a higher level for brief moments in time. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan did the same for their basketball teammates. Tiger’s recent victory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla is comparable in many ways to the feats of the great team sport players previously mentioned. Although Bob May is an outstanding golfer in his own right, it is difficult to imagine that he would have produced the final round that he did had he not been pushed to the heights of his game by the best player in the world.

Talent alone is not enough to have a substantial impact on your fellow players and on the sport in which you participate – every professional athlete possesses immense talent. It is difficult to say what separates the truly great players in any sport from their peers of comparable ability. Some would say that the truly great players have the ability to find "the zone" or simply have a greater will to win or stronger powers of concentration. Whatever the reason, the PGA Championship served notice that we will be debating the issue for many years to come.