Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we’re ready to hear Jim Nantz from Lambeau Field on Sunday—and wondering if he might drop a golf reference.
Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.
Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.
Ernie Els told the Palm Beach Post that he encouraged Tiger Woods to play on the PGA Tour Champions next year to get into “golf shape” again after a quiet 2025. Look for Woods to make a few starts on the 50-and-over circuit.
Bob Harig: FACT. Tiger has said in the past he looked forward to senior golf and getting to ride a cart. It’s the perfect way for him to ease into competition if he is intent on playing the majors at age 50 and beyond.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. It’s a smart way to test his game and stay reasonably sharp while placing far less stress on his array of fragile limbs and ligaments. Good move.
John Schwarb: FACT. Makes so much practical sense, getting back into competition mode with 54 holes and carts, and would be a heckuva lot of fun to see Tiger chop it up again with Ernie and Freddy and the old guard.
Max Schreiber: FACT. He has been open to it, and as Paul Azinger said earlier this year, Tiger might "feel an obligation" to play the PGA Tour Champions and perhaps give the circuit a boost.
Only Tiger can save the PGA Tour Champions, whose schedule of some 25 events may not fully fit in the PGA Tour’s new for-profit structure.
Bob Harig: FICTION. Tiger is not going to play Champions Tour golf enough to have that kind of impact. The circuit is looking at being downsized in the new PGA Tour for-profit world and he’d clearly be an added benefit to that new structure.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. Even if it’s only a handful of appearances, every Woods start on the senior circuit will shatter TV ratings and on-site attendance records. Just as he once did on the PGA Tour in his early 20s, Woods will instantly become the heartbeat of his new tour. Even if the Champions Tour shaves off a few events in its new schedule, there will be more fans interested in that tour than ever before, all thanks to Tiger.
John Schwarb: FACT. Tiger won’t play all the time but the buzz in limited appearances will boost however many events the tour has. Older fans remember when Nicklaus and Trevino helped make the then-Senior PGA Tour almost as popular as the PGA Tour; Tiger at the very least could require a lot of double screens on weekend afternoons.
Max Schreiber: FICTION. I don't think he'll play the over-50 tour full-time; however, there's no doubt the ratings will increase drastically if/when he does. Eventually, though, the novelty will wear off a least a little bit.
Luke Donald is running it back this month at Bethpage, with 11 members of his 2023 winning European team and a different Hojgaard twin. The pressure is squarely off the Euros to repeat as Ryder Cup champs.
Bob Harig: FACT. The pressure is squarely on the U.S. team. The visitors have had a hard time in this competition over the years and that has been painful clear to the Americans. To not win at home would be a disaster. The Europeans obviously want to win but why feel the same pressure? They have a strong team with tons of experience.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. The U.S. is fresh off a butt-kicking in Rome, and of course no road team has won the Cup since it was choked away in 2012 by the U.S. at Medinah. The longer the Euros hang in at Bethpage, the more the pressure ramps up on the U.S.
John Schwarb: FACT. For more than a decade the home team has won the Ryder Cup and then two years later has a virtual freeroll on the road, where the players would like to win but it’s not a catastrophe if they don’t because the expectations are so different. Luke Donald’s legacy won’t be damaged with a loss at Bethpage, but for Keegan Bradley and the Americans a defeat would be a disaster.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tiger Woods Will Rejuvenate the PGA Tour Champions.
