Is golf crying out for a new alpha male?

Far be it from me to enter the gender debate swinging but when it comes to men’s professional golf, there is a major shortage of big personalities. We were short pre-LIV and we’re in scant supply now as the game continues to lean on its long-time greatest asset, Tiger Woods, despite little return of late.

Woods was an understandable withdrawal from last week’s Genesis following the death of his mother. The tournament host’s presence would’ve provided another shot in the arm for the PGA Tour following Rory McIlroy’s Pebble Beach win. After all, it remains a treat to have arguably the game’s greatest still involved at the top level after nearly meeting his end in that SUV accident in 2021. Or at least it did up until recently. Up until I accepted that there’s only so much better that injured leg will get.

I’m somewhat relieved we won’t have to sit through another Woods press conference this week – albeit I wish the circumstances were different. You could write the script these days. The customary health update, the latest on his schedule, how this surgery and recovery compares to all the others and whether it’s the leg or the back that gives him most grief. I should beg forgiveness for saying this but it’s starting to feel a bit like we’re flogging a dead horse lately. At least for me.

Of course, that’s no fault of Tiger’s. He remains the game’s number one drawcard, even when he’s teeing up in a tournament just hoping to play through unscathed. But perhaps it is the fault of the PGA Tour whose reliance on Woods over the years has been massively exposed since the emergence of LIV Golf coincided with his absence.

Say what you want about LIV, and I’ve said plenty, but there’s no doubt the Saudi circuit snapped up some of golf’s standout characters. It didn’t matter whether you loved them, hated them, or loved to hate them. The likes of Koepka, Bryson, Reed, Garcia and Rahm added an element of spice to every tournament they played in. Without them, regular tour stops are serving up bland offerings, and despite what Brandel Chamblee hopes the 2025 Nielson ratings will say about viewing figures – this year it’s set to include first-party streaming data – the game’s popularity is on the wane and there isn’t a dodgy-box that will convince me otherwise.

Unlike most sports, men’s golf is lacking across the board. It’s lacking meaningful golf outside the Majors. It’s missing consistent competition amongst the game’s best players and by consequence, the game is bereft of rivalry as friendly faces share around trophies like Pokémon cards.

Woods’ impact on the game can never be downplayed and in his heyday, despite doing most of his talking on the golf course, his mere presence alone was enough to enrich a tournament, provoke a reaction, spark a conversation and ultimately transcend sport as golf’s popularity grew alongside him. Rory McIlroy was meant to be the heir apparent and while he’s certainly golf’s next best thing in terms of blockbuster content, he’s never had the self-obsession Woods’ father Earl instilled in the GOAT. And that’s not a bad thing.

Maybe it’s unfair to expect anyone from the pack to come close to filling Tiger’s void? Scottie Scheffler sure has the game to be the guy but even seeing the man locked up in orange prison overalls couldn’t detract from his holier than thou Ned Flanders persona. And despite winning nine times in 2024, including the Masters and a Gold Medal, he still couldn’t beat Woods in the Player Impact Program.

Look, I’m not sure what I’m expecting of a golfer but these guys are just too squeaky clean to be interesting, and if they’re not, the PGA Tour does its best to hide the dirt. Think Dustin Johnson “falling” down the stairs before the Masters.

As for the solution to all this, who knows where the game is heading as deals continue to be ironed out between the Saudis and the suits. What I do know, however, is that Batman wouldn’t be worth talking about if it wasn’t for the Joker and the Penguin. It just so happens that in golf, all the villains made off with the big, bad bag of money like villains do and as of now, the likes of Brooks and Bryson are burying hatchets instead of being at loggerheads as rivalry ripples into obscurity on the men’s golf scene.