The new golfing year presents an opportunity the sport hopes will offset recurring concern. Tiger Woods will not compete in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which begins on Thursday, but discussion regarding what the returning great could bring to the game in a time of supposed need refuses to go away.
Last week’s YouGov poll, which named golf as the most boring spectator sport, refuelled debate over perception. The European Tour has tried harder than most to improve the game’s appeal but most onlookers are aware that stars shape the story.
Woods, who will feature on the PGA Tour next weekend, still stands alone as the marquee figure. Here in Abu Dhabi, Rory McIlroy's re-appearance – added to the arrival of the world No 1, Dustin Johnson – accentuates the theory of this being the proper start to a season that technically began before the end of 2017.
There is one great anomaly attached to golf’s grasping for relevance and, perhaps, identity. Those in the upper echelons have never had it so good, as emphasised by the appearance fees bestowed on Johnson and others in Abu Dhabi.
“That’s surprising to me,” said Justin, Rose when told of the poll’s findings. “I think if you ask a golf fan, golf’s not boring right now. The young guys are doing incredibly well. We’re on the verge of watching Tiger come back and this comeback definitely looks for real. I think this is an exciting time.
“If you’re going to ask a population, sure, I think golf still has a stigma of being an old man’s sport for people who aren’t aware of what the sport is all about. But I think people in and around the game don’t feel that way.”
The world No 6 is experienced enough to have encountered Woods’s earlier dominance, plus the present day scenario in which major championships have been shared. “I think people love to see history being made, history being broken,” Rose said. “So obviously it takes a dominant figure to do that.
“I think Tiger was so dominant, we don’t appreciate how dominant some of these other players have been recently. The top five or six have really separated themselves from the rest. There’s a form of dominance at the top but it’s spread a little bit more evenly than just one guy.
“I think the one guy we all know we’re talking about could make things incredibly interesting where you have the best of both worlds; someone coming back, trying to create even more history and legacy, and yet there’s so much more parity and more interest because there’s more storylines rather than just one.”
One of them involves Johnson’s return to Augusta National in April, 12 months after the domestic accident that prevented him from a Masters tilt when at the peak of his powers.
“I struggled for a little while after Augusta,” said Johnson, who fell down stairs on the eve of the tournament and pulled out on the first tee. “I finally feel like my game is starting to get back into the form it was, to this time last year where I had a really good run leading into Augusta.
“I was very disappointed I didn’t get to play the Masters but things happen. You’ve just got to roll with it. It’s a place where I always love going to play. The last two Masters I played in I did very well, so I’m definitely excited to go back.” – Guardian service
KPMG renews sponsorship of leading Irish golfer Paul Dunne
KPMG today announced it has renewed its global sponsorship agreement with Paul Dunne, winner of the 2017 British Masters. Pictured below with Shaun Murphy - Managing Partner of KPMG in Ireland, Dunne is one of Ireland's top globally-ranked golfers and achieved a 16th place finish on the Race to Dubai.
