The GolfBlogger’s Thesis that Tiger Woods is ultimately bad for the Tour is spreading. Quoting the same sources, today’s edition of Cybergolf International offers the same thoughts as the GolfBlogger’s Monday column.

It’s good to be ahead of the crowd.

Here’s a clip from NBC which in part blames Tiger—of the lack of Tiger—for the death of the International. 

The Denver Post also makes the implication in an article on the demise of the tournament:

Tiger Woods only played twice, the last time in 1999 when it was played a week after the PGA Championship, and that became an issue with Vickers. He often lamented the absence of golf’s top draw, and he continued to ask the tour for different dates. It moved from a week after the PGA Championship to two weeks before the final major, then the week before the PGA.

The AP’s Arnie Stapleton echoes the thought:

Yet the biggest factor was the absence of Woods, who hadn’t played in the event since 1999.

“I’d have to say, yeah, if he shows, everything changes,” Vickers told The Associated Press. “But I also know, in fairness to him, he can’t be everywhere. He can’t be everything to everybody.”

Vickers said he was unsuccessful in getting a commitment from Woods, who didn’t come when the event was held in August because it was so close to the PGA Championship, and that prevented him from closing deals with companies he was courting.

“On the one hand, the Tour’s asking for a new five- or six-year commitment and you’ve got a one-man show out there right now that is the big difference,” Vickers said. “And I’ve tried to get an expression, ‘So let’s be honest with each other. Just tell me, if it’s no, it’s no. But I’d like to know if out of six years, you’d play a couple years, even three years. I’d be happy as a lark.’ But I can’t get any commitment.”

It’s an interesting thought. And while exaggerated, it falls in line with my thesis that, increasingly, Tiger is BAD for the PGA Tour. Or perhaps, that Tiger can be bad if the Tour lets it get that way.

Yes, I know that Tiger is single handedly responsible for the exponential increase in purses and interest in golf. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing.

There clearly are now two classes of tournaments in golf: not majors and regular Tour events, but Tiger and Non-Tiger events. In the current financial structure, if the Blessed Saint Tiger decides to grace you with his presence (or at least holds out the chance that he will), your Tournament will do well. If not, you may struggle.

SI’s Michael Bamberger has a humorous piece on how Jack Nicklaus ruined it for Tiger—and by extension guys everywhere—with his “family first” attitude.

On his 31st Birthday, Tiger Woods has announced that wife Elin is pregnant.

Congratulations!

Now we know what he’s been doing with all of that time off.

The baby apparently is due sometime between the US Open and the British Open Championship. But knowing how babies—especially first ones—come on their own schedules, I wonder if he’s got a plan if the bambino is early or late. Is he going to wear a beeper and threaten to leave the tournament early if paged, like Mickelson?

I doubt it. My guess is that it’ll be born via c section so it will be on his schedule.

Tiger’s charity tournament a couple of weeks ago gave people a look at another side of the world’s number one golfer. His Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim is just the first of what he hopes will be a worldwide network. Here’s an outstanding article on his efforts. In this season of giving, it’s good to read about someone giving so much.

I know its the silly season, but having just finished watching Tiger win convincingly at his Target Invitational, I can’t help but be impressed with the state of his game. In fact, the entire second half of this last season, he was darn near flawless.

And I predict that he wins the Grand Slam next year.

When I was in journalism school, we were told that one of the most important tasks of a journalist was to distinguish between what is, and is not, news. The acid test was that “Dog Bites Man” is not news; “Man Bites Dog” is.

The PGA Tour’s announcement that Tiger Woods has won the Player of the Year Award falls squarely in the “Dog Bites Man” category. Of COURSE Woods is the player of the year. He has won that award with such stunning regularity (eight of the last ten years) that I think it’s time he retired his name from consideration and gave someone else a chance.

That’s not to take away from the year that Woods just had. In fact, Bobby Jones aside, Tiger may have just had the best year in the history of golf.

Consider: In fifteen PGA Tour start, Tiger won eight times, taking home nearly $10 million dollars. He finished in the top ten in eleven of those.

And his record is actually better than that. In one of those starts, he had to withdraw because of illness; at the US Open, he was still reeling from the death of his father. I give him a bye on that last one.

So by the Golf Blogger count, he won eight of thirteen “real” starts on the Tour.

It’s all, I think, bad news for the rest of the players on Tour. When Tiger is in the field, everyone is playing for second place.