Tiger uses Twitter to deliver bad news on U.S. Open: A fan’s reaction

08/06/2011

As a longtime golf player and fan, I love to watch Tiger Woods play and have since he broke onto the tour in the 1990s. I've been playing golf for a long time, and not since Jack Nicklaus had a player excited me like Tiger. He made me want to tune in to see how well he was going to play the next tournament.

With age and injuries, things seem to have changed, and sadly, Tiger announced June 7 he would not be physically well enough to play the upcoming U.S. Open. He tweeted: "Not playing in US Open. Very disappointed. Short-term frustration for long-term gain."

Tiger Woods playing Congressional Country Club in 2007, the site of the 2011 U.S. Open.
Wikimedia Commons

Tiger also used his Twitter account to announce a major shake-up in his agents, tweeting: "Staying with Mark Steinberg. Total confidence in him. Excited about the next stage in my professional life. Fond memories of Mark McCormack."

This is a big deal, it means he is leaving IMG, his long-time talent agency, yet sticking with his long-term agent Mark Steinberg. Steinberg left IMG on May 24 over contract issues, possibly related to Woods' huge drop in endorsement income after his sex scandal. Mark McCormack is the founder of IMG, who has represented Tiger since he turned pro in 1994. IMG was founded in 1960 and created the model for a powerful Hollywood-style talent agency for sports stars, getting them endorsements, commercials, sponsors and other income from non-sports sources.

It amazes me how it's a whole new world for sports media, as Tiger took to his personal Twitter account, @tigerwoods, to make the announcement. I follow Tiger on my Twitter account, @travel4seniors, so I learned the news at the same time as networks and sports reporters around the world. Celebrities like Tiger take to Twitter to break news themselves. It allows them to control the message as well as when it's released. They can also communicate directly with the public, so to speak, without worrying about news outlets putting a spin on the message.

Tiger's announcement means the field is wide open for upcoming Open. I like Steve Stricker, who, as I wrote about (Steve Stricker wins Memorial - a fan's reaction), showed strong play and a strong mind with his storm delayed win of the Memorial. He's been playing very good golf and has that all-important momentum.


As a golf fan, I'm excited about watching the upcoming Open. Especially with this more open, more international field, there are a lot of talented, young players out there and any one of them could rise to the top and impress us all.

Sources:

Official Twitter page of Tiger Woods - @tigerwoods

Dan Wetzel "Tiger pulls out of U.S. Open amid health issues" Yahoo Sports

Jeff Shain "Tiger Woods sticking with agent, leaving IMG" Orlando Sentinel via latimes.com