Whisper it: Tiger Woods is not the biggest draw in the history of televised golf in the US. In fact he has never even pushed viewing figures into the all-time top 10, in a regular tour event.

From his winning performances, only one appears on the list of Sunday telecasts, which reads: 1 1971 Bing Crosby Pro-Am (19.2 million viewers, won by Tom Shaw); 2 1976 Phoenix Open (16.5: Bob Gilder); 3 1975 Bing Crosby (14.7: Gene Littler); 4 1973 Bob Hope Classic (14.6: Arnold Palmer); 5 1997 US Masters (14.1: Woods); 6 1971 Bob Hope (13.9: Palmer); 7 1973 Bing Crosby (13.7: Jack Nicklaus); 8 1972 Bing Crosby (13.1: Nicklaus); 9 1977 Bing Crosby (12.8: Tom Watson); 10 1976 Bing Crosby (12.6: Ben Crenshaw).

As can be seen from that list, the 1970s was a golden era for televised golf in the US, especially early in the year. In fact the 1997 Masters was the only tournament in the 1990s to make the top-20 telecasts. All of which leads us inevitably to the question: what would today's figures be like if the bold Tiger wasn't around?