Walter Rieck and his wife, Virginia, rarely watch television in the morning. But this is a special day in June. The U.S. Open is under way and Tiger Woods tees off at 8:06 a.m.
For the retired couple from rural Towanda, Pa., this is appointment television. Walter checked the Towanda Daily Review for Woods’ starting time. He rose early the next morning and tuned in to the Golf Channel.
For the next four days, Walter, 86, and Virginia, 85, followed the Open on television, drifting away when Woods was not on the course but watching intently when he was playing. “We were holding our breath,” Virginia said. “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but we kept watching until the end.”
For family and friends of the Riecks, it’s a curious infatuation. The couple played golf only occasionally and are the most casual of sports fans. But when Woods made history by winning the Masters at age 21, the Riecks were intrigued. Thirteen major championships later, they can’t get enough of golf’s pied piper.
“They used to call me every Thursday asking what channel Tiger was on. Now they can figure it out,” said Jan Dinelli, of Dale City, one of the Riecks’ four daughters. “The only time they watch golf is when Tiger’s playing.”
Judging from television ratings, there are many others like Walter and Virginia Rieck. So what is it about Woods that draws them to the tube?
“I think he mesmerizes you,” Virginia Rieck said. “He’s different from the other players — his physical appearance, the way he walks around the green, the look in his eye when he’s lining up a putt. You just believe he’s going to make it.”
The only other time the Riecks were drawn to golf was a half-century earlier, when similarly charismatic Arnold Palmer emerged. But Palmer’s reign (seven major championships in seven years) wasn’t as long or as thorough, and part of his appeal, to the Riecks, was that he was a fellow Pennsylvanian.
“You could never count Arnold out of a tournament, and Tiger’s the same way,” Walter Rieck said. “But Tiger’s kept it going longer. Arnold faded a little bit when Jack Nicklaus started playing.”
Woods’ allure is easy to quantify. When he was out for nine months after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, golf ratings plummeted, according to a study by the Nielsen Co. One of the tournaments that suffered most was Woods’ own event, the AT&T National.
In 2007, when Woods played, 6.2 million viewers watched the last two rounds. Last July, when Woods was home in Orlando, only 3.6 tuned in, despite the emergence of a compelling 23-year-old champion, Anthony Kim.
The 43 percent drop in ratings is all the more significant considering the 2007 AT&T was not optimal Tiger viewing. He faded from the leaderboard Saturday and never made a run at winner K.J. Choi, finishing seven strokes back. But that didn’t keep CBS, ever mindful of Woods’ pull, from showing virtually every shot he played.
“His demographics are stunning,” said television consultant Victor Fredricks. “He brings kids, young adults, women and men that would not be watching golf on a Saturday and Sunday. He is a true force in drawing fans not just to broadcasts, but to events.”
The tournament affected most by Woods’ recent absence was the PGA Championship. In 2007, when Woods won at Southern Hills, a staggering 15.1 million viewers watched on Saturday and Sunday. But last year, CBS drew just 5.2 million for the final two rounds, a fall of 66 percent, even though a pair of popular Europeans — winner Padraig Harrington and runner-up Sergio Garcia — battled to the 72nd hole.
“There is no doubt there are ratings increases when Tiger plays,” said CBS Vice President of Programming Rob Correa. “That clearly demonstrates his ability to attract the casual fan to golf.”
In 2006 a Harris poll revealed that Woods had become the world’s most popular athlete, taking over for Michael Jordan, who had held the distinction since the poll was introduced in 1993. That a golfer could achieve such status demonstrates the reach of Woods beyond his demographically limited sport and into popular culture.
Surely other athletes have excelled at comparable levels in their respective sports and maintained a similarly clean image. But few have had the transcendent power of Woods. So what is it about the 33-year-old from California that’s so fascinating?
Being of mixed race (his father, African-American, his mother, Thai) in a Caucasian-dominated sport has surely brought more under golf’s umbrella, and not just in the United States.
“Woods is a worldwide brand,” said Belgian author William Echikson, who wrote “Shooting for Tiger — How Golf’s New Generation Is Transforming a Country Club Sport.”
“In Asia they have golf academies that are [intent] on producing more Tiger Woods. The most amazing part of the story is that women have grasped the combination of mental toughness and the technical skill that it takes to make a world-class golfer. The winner has been the LPGA, where many of the women from South Korea, Japan and China are becoming dominant players.”
But Woods’ race matters little to fans such as Walter Rieck, a former anesthesiologist.
“I never thought about it,” said Rieck. “It might have made him more interesting at first because he was different. But now, to me, he’s Tiger. It doesn’t matter what color his skin is.”
Instead, says Rieck, he his drawn by Woods’ achievements and his charisma, but most of all, by the process that made him the world’s greatest golfer.
“He was raised in a military family,” Rieck said. “You get the feeling watching him that everything he’s accomplished has been through hard work. I think that’s one of the things I like most about him, and I don’t think you can always say that about athletes in other sports.”
