It’s really amusing to read comments from European golf fans regarding the return of Tiger Woods.  A BBC report on the dramatic final hole birdie to win Sunday included reader comments at the bottom that ranged from bizarre to just plain humorous.

A sampling:

“I’ve said it before, I don’t think Tiger is that exciting. All he needs to do is make the odd birdie, and his opponents fold like Phil Hellmuth. Not Tiger’s fault, he knows how to take advantage of this, and grind out wins. This in itself is a great skill, but I would hardly say he was unmissable. Plus, I think people find the over the top adulation rather boring and somewhat nauseating.”

“I think what’s being reflected here is, dare I say it, a nagging sense of disappointment that pro golf is now returning to it’s old Tiger-dominated state. We’ve had eight months of fantastically exciting golf, where the networks have actually shown OTHER golfers playing! Now we’re back to the old predictable way of things. I just switch off when Tiger takes the lead, because it becomes so boringly inevitable. I have huge respect for Tiger, he is the greatest golfer of all time. But golf was becoming so much more fun to watch. And now it’s over….”

“Very good he undoubtedly is but he’s rarely jump out of your seat exciting. Last exciting thing I remember him doing was that chip-in from the back of 16 at Augusta. THAT was exciting although seeing him dunk it in water has a certain attraction.”

“Can’t say i have ever bet on tiger…. in my eyes he’s poor odds and never a cetainty. Still an amazing golfer just not for betting on.”

Not every post was anti-Tiger; in fact, there were a number who were awed by Sunday’s latest dramatics.  But it’s sad, really, when one of the few players in golf history who can captivate casual fans with his incredible shot-making and competitive zeal can’t get more worldwide respect.  The Tour ‘more exciting’ without Tiger?  Uh…better check those TV ratings.  Any player with a victory during Tiger’s tour absence shouldn’t be required to give it back, but you’d have to be a fool to think that most fans won’t consider it worthy of an asterisk in the record book.  And if you don’t find Tiger exciting, then who in the name of Nicklaus IS exciting?

If you’ve ever wanted to go to the Masters, this might be the year to get off the fence and go.  It’s unlikely Masters badges will be as cheap as you can find them on the secondary market as they are right now.  The economy has kept some people away, and even though it’s not a cheap ticket, compared to many years, it’s a bargain.  Check out last-minute 2009 Masters tickets from eBay sellers.

Most golf fans dream of walking the historic rolling greens of Augusta National Golf Course and winding along Rae’s Creek at Amen Corner to hear the whispers of golf’s legendary past. With Masters badges for the tournament still available, dreams can come true — at an unbeatable price.

In years past, the average market value of a full-day practice round ticket at the Masters was around $350 and a full-day competition tournament badge at about $975. This year, some websites have practice round tickets start at $170 and full-day badges at $478, almost half of the average entry cost.

With Tiger Woods returning to golf after his hiatus, along with major design changes to the course entrance and badge prices lower than ever, both fans that either have or haven’t attended should make the last minute decision to head for Georgia this week.  It’s definitely the one year when you won’t need your entire year’s vacation budget to go.

Here’s the 2009 Masters week schedule–and don’t let the fear of expensive food and drink get you down.  Many items at the Masters are under $5.

2009 Tournament Schedule & Current Prices

Monday, April 6: Practice Round from $170 — Gates open at 8:00am and close at 6:30pm.

Tuesday, April 7: Practice Round from $257 — Gates open at 8:00am and close at 6:30pm.

Wednesday, April 8: Practice Round from $377 — Gates open at 8:00am and close 30 minutes after Par 3 Contest.

Thursday, April 9: Competitive Round from $478 — Gates open at 8:00am and close 30 minutes after play has ended.

Friday, April 10: Competitive Round from $525 — Gates open at 8:00am and close 30 minutes after play has ended.

Saturday, April 11: Competitive Round from $478 — Gates open at 8:00am and close 30 minutes after play has ended.

Sunday, April 12: Final Competitive Round from $525 — Gates open at 8:00am and close 30 minutes after presentation ceremony has ended.

Best Value: Masters Four Day Badge from $1,810 — Grants entry into grounds for all four tournament days and is typically priced at $3,000.

With news of badges still available and at much lower prices than in years past, it’s not too late to attend the 2009 Masters.

2000 British Open

You might not be able to play a round of golf with Tiger Woods but you can put him on your desk.  Upper Deck has released some new Tiger figures that are accurate right down to the wind rippling through his pants.

The 2000 calendar year was an especially good one for the young phenom. He won three consecutive majors on his way to eventually fulfilling at least one version of the grand slam when he won the 2001 Masters. Winning four majors in a row – albeit not in the same calendar year – still ranks as one of golf’s greatest achievements. Now the Upper Deck Company has released a couple of Pro Shots action figures commemorating the finest stretch of golf a player has had in recent PGA Tour history.  The figures spotlight two of Tiger’s most thrilling moments from 2000, the U.S. Open and British Open.   The two moments captured include Tiger’s incomparable backswing with his driver in hand (British Open) and his crowd-pleasing iron shot on the fairway (U.S. Open).

The extraordinarily lifelike figures are now being prepped to ship next week. Locations include Toys R’ Us, Champs, BC Sports, and select Target, Sports Authority, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.  There will also be alternate colorway versions in clam shell packaging. The alternate versions are available only at Champs outlets and hobby stores.

Pro Shots figures are 7″ scale collectible figures presented in the popular “hyper-realistic” style.  With sculpting by

2000 US Open

industry leading Gentle Giant Studios and an impeccable level of accuracy in paint and deco applications, Pro Shots action figures recreate the top moments of sport’s top athletes. Packaged in either a diorama collector’s box or in a crisp clam shell, each Pro Shots figure connects the collector to the emotional moment out on the field of play. Pro Shots figures packaged inside the clear “in the moment” diorama-style display box also include an Upper Deck trading card commemorating the moment.

Besides these latest two variations, Upper Deck has previously released Tiger’s victories at the 1997 Masters and the 2000 PGA Championship. The figures generally run less than $20.

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Shop for Tiger Woods on eBay

High tech has come to pro golf in a number of different ways.  Streaming video of PGA Tour events isn’t quite there yet.  At least not in the opinion of one firm that monitors such things.

Keynote Competitive Research, the industry analysis group of Keynote Systems, monitored the live streaming performance – meaning streaming quality and availability – of the World Golf Championship held in Doral, Florida last week. The company monitored live streams of the event from 16 geographical locations worldwide during the final round last Sunday.   Keynote tested streaming performance at some time during the final day of the tournament from 23 different geographic locations.  The results: online streaming performance was far from a hole in one. In fact, they say the performance was rather dismal. While some lucky golf enthusiasts may have been able to view the entire tournament at high quality, many others were unable to even connect to the streams and likely switched back to watching the event on television.

The overall availability of live streams of the event, was at a very low 64 percent. It appears that among North American cities San Francisco, Seattle and Atlanta experienced the best streaming performance, while viewers in Chicago, Washington, New York and LA might not have gotten very far in being successfully able to view the event as it was being streamed live. Streaming performance in London, Paris and Amsterdam was better than the four poor performing US cities. The good news is that people who did manage to actually connect to the World Golf Championships’ live streams had an excellent user experience, much like they would have experienced had they watched the event on live television.

The majority of the problems occurred between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. ET, when connection timeouts and buffering events peaked for certain locations. Also, as the tournament was coming to its highlight, the critical 18^th hole, overall availability dropped to below 20 percent.  That will certainly frustrate those who were hoping to see the decisive action online.  Keynote says the infrastructure for allowing many people to view a live streamed event concurrently is still in great need of improvement.

Keynote tentatively plans to monitor streaming video of The Masters April 6^th to April 12^th.

I’m a sucker for vintage sports memorabilia and if you’re into the history of the game, you’ll drool over some of the stuff that Bonham’s is offering this month.

The British auction house has over 300 lots of vintage and fairly modern golf collectibles up for bid.  There are all sorts of very old golf balls and clubs.  Some of the balls are still in unopened form.

They’ve also got a ton of stuff from the British Open dating back decades.  Programs, autographed golf flags, etc.  Ryder Cup memorabilia, Willis and Churchmans golf trading cards from the 1930s and before.

We still recommend shopping via eBay through our links on this site because that’s how we keep blogging AND because you can find a lot of the same type of material if you’re patient AND because I can’t figure out exactly how much a British pound is in American currency  but…it’s all a lot of fun to look at.

1997 Masters badge signed by Tiger Woods

You know who is playing his first stroke play event of 2009 which means everyone at Doral was chasing down a Tiger Woods autograph—and probably not getting one.

We’re not saying Tiger never signs at the course—he’s been known to sign a few while walking when not in competition.  But you’ve got to be very lucky.

If you were smart, you started following him when he was just getting started on tour.  He was already well-known but until the 1997 Masters, he wasn’t impossible.

Iconic Memorabilia’s current auction includes  a 1997 Masters badge with a very clean Tiger autograph on it.  It’s pretty symbolic of Tiger’s career and with unsigned Masters badges from that tournament in demand, this one should generate a lot of interest.  They also have some other golf memorabilia, including a few other Tiger autographs.

We suspect there were be a lot of other players signing this week too.  Tiger sort of has that trickle down effect.

Contrary to what seems to be current popular opinion, there was a PGA Tour before Tiger Woods went pro a dozen years ago.

No, really. They held tournaments and everything.  TV.  Winner’s checks.  Paying spectators.

In 2009, the general feeling is that if Tiger gets hit by a truck, the tour does too.  And it is Sunday-another Sunday– without him.  The grand re-entrance turned out to be pretty much of a dud.  A round two exit–played before a TV audience that works at a golf course or doesn’t have a job at all.

Listen to sports radio or the network sports news shows you get the impression that Tiger IS the Tour. And there is a certain amount of truth to that just because he’s been so damned good.  We haven’t seen a player dominate like he has since Jack Nicklaus.  Tiger, of course, is on pace to smash all of Jack’s records.

I also get the numbers.  TV ratings sink like a concrete Titleist when he’s not playing.   Fans don’t come to the second and third tier events when he sits out.  Yada, yada, yada.   It’s a twisted sort of tribute to Tiger, I guess, and sports need superstars.  Golf just needs a few more of them.

The Tour tries to sell the other players, I guess, but they need to do more.   As Tiger heads toward 40, chances are he’ll cut back the schedule even more.  He may not win as much if the knee becomes an off-again, on-again issue.  And someday–15 to 20 years from now or so–he’ll start thinking about quitting.  If the Champions Tour is still around, I can’t picture Tiger playing.

Then what?

Tiger is gone.  There will never be another.  What do you do?  Pack up the tent?

Look, there have always been people interested in watching golf in person and on TV.  The sport isn’t going away and the PGA Tour shouldn’t ebb and flow with every step Tiger takes or doesn’t take.  He’s a blast to watch.  But there are other players out there who need to be marketed–and who need to market themselves.   It shouldn’t be THAT hard.

Tiger isn’t really a personality.  People don’t hang on his every word.  They just like to watch him play.   Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez didn’t outshine Jack and people still watched them.  Wanted to hear from them.  Rooted for them.   They knew they had to sell themselves and sell the sport.  I’m not sure guys today really get that.  Many come from button-down college programs where they’re so conditioned to use the time to put themselves in position to get a tour card that they forget–or never learn how–to entertain.  They’ll sign autographs.  They’ll do boring TV interviews–seldom revealing much of themselves.  For every Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley, there are ten other guys who could trade shirts and sponsors and no one would ever know.  Or care.

The Tour and the players have to get on board with the idea that it’s a league and they’re entertainers.  All for one.  One for all.  Try something different.   Get on a prime time TV reality show.  Do something crazy.

Just do something.