Fans are not happy with how Tiger Woods was covered during the Masters
The Masters has come and gone, with American Patrick Reed claiming his first green jacket at Augusta National Golf Club.
It was a rather dominant showing for Reed, with Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy nipping at his heels but ultimately failing to catch Reed.
It was a fascinating tournament despite the relative lack of drama down the stretch on Sunday.
In fact, the Masters enjoyed some healthy ratings throughout. Ratings for Sunday improved from a 7.6 in 2017 to an 8.7 in 2018, according to Sporting News. That’s a strong 14 percent increase.
Despite the play of Reed, Fowler and McIlroy, there’s another fairly significant reason that the Masters saw a ratings spike.
Eldrick Tont Woods, better known to the world as Tiger, was the real ratings booster.
Even the most casual of golf fans had some sort of vested interest in Woods’ latest comeback attempt.
Supporters want him to return to form and chase Jack Nicklaus’ majors record in earnest. Critics want Woods to fail and officially just go away.
There really doesn’t seem to be much middle ground when it comes to Woods. The former No. 1 golfer in the world is the most polarizing athlete this side of Foxborough, Massachusetts. Fans will gleefully watch him, either to watch him rise or fall.
For CBS, which broadcast the Masters, that presented an unenviable choice. The network could either ignore Tiger because he was nowhere near realistic contention by Sunday and lose countless pairs of eyes, or it could give maximum coverage to the sport’s biggest name and ratings attraction.
CBS opted for the latter.
Despite finishing an unremarkable 32nd place, Woods still got consistent and frequent television time.
A lot of golf purists were obviously annoyed with the development, wanting more coverage of the golfers who were actually competing for a green jacket.
I realize Tiger Woods is the meter when it comes to golf BUT there are other players out there. Coverage is heavily Tiger. #Masters Round one
— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) April 5, 2018
Breaking; US Networks to introduce a special "Rest of Field Button" feature, which will show the rest of the field during extensive coverage of Tiger and Phil at this week's #masters. Majestic.
— TweeterAlliss (Parody) (by Jove) (@TweeterAlliss) April 2, 2018
I couldn't believe the coverage I was seeing. Instead of covering the guys in the hunt for the green jacket, they chose to focus on Tiger. And not only CBS, but other outlets as well.
— snacky 🫧 (@candyflippin) April 9, 2018
ESPN’s Michelle Beadle took things even further on Monday’s “Get Up!” by calling Tiger’s coverage “ridiculous.” She said CBS was forcing Woods down the throats of viewers, and wanted to know which other golfers vying for 32nd place would get this type of coverage.
It’s a valid complaint that Woods feels more like a vanity reclamation project for networks than an athlete at the top of his game, but the numbers speak for themselves. A 14 percent increase in ratings will only embolden other networks to treat Woods similarly.
And despite the underwhelming finish, Tiger does looks better than he has in a while. His harshest critics may just have to suck it up and deal with this type of coverage.
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