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Despite a Poor Season from Tiger Woods, Tigermania Is Still Thriving

By Matt Cochran

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It may not have been the outcome Tiger Woods had been hoping for in the final round of the Wyndham Championship, but there are still plenty of positive takeaways as he heads into the offseason.

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One of the biggest things we learned this past weekend is that Tigermania is still thriving in the sport of golf.

Woods entered the week in Greensboro, North Carolina as 286th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Despite being the highest ranked in his career, the patrons at Sedgefield Country Club came out in droves to see the 79 time TOUR winner. You would have thought he was still ranked the number one golfer in the world with the amount of fans that came out to see him.

"“This is the kind of thing tournament directors dream about after a hearty meal,” Charlotte Observer columnist Luke Decock writes. “Rarely does it come to fruition like this: The absolute best-case scenario when Woods decided…to make his first appearance at the tournament. It’s one thing for Woods to show up. It’s another for him to contend on the weekend…After selling all 30,000 tickets Friday, the Wyndham will make a few thousand more available Saturday. If the course isn’t too crowded, they might sell even more Sunday.”"

The 2015 season was a struggle for Tiger Woods and even got down right ugly during some points, but that didn’t stop fans from showing their support for Big Cat.

Even when his chipping yips were at the worst and he still managed to pull off a somewhat decent shot, fans would go crazy, even if they were sympathy cheers.

What we saw this past weekend was something out of the year 2000. Playing in the Wyndham Championship for the first time in his career, Sedgefield Country Club was packed from the first day. Just look at the fan reaction after he flopped in on the first hole of his tournament:

Despite the poor season he was having, the Wyndham Championship needed to print an extra 49,000 tickets after Woods announced that he would be playing in the event.

In addition to the rise in ticket demands, TV ratings went up as well. Friday’s telecast of the tournament was Golf Channel’s most-watched Friday round since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which happens to be the last time Tiger won on TOUR.

Not only were Friday’s ratings incredible, but Saturday’s were even better. The third round of the Wyndham Championship matched the ratings of the third round of the PGA Championship. Saturday at the Wyndham also topped  the Saturday rounds at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. The Tiger Effect is real, people.

Woods was also surrounding by seven members of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department while he made his way around the grounds during Wednesday’s practice round. Has the 286th golfer in the world ever required such police treatment?

The Tiger fanatics were out in full force as well.

People were even mowing their lawns with Tiger themes:

Courtesy: PGA TOUR LIVE

Greensboro teen Jackson Fielding has been letting people park on his parents yard every year for the Wyndham Championship. Fielding experienced Tigermania first hand,“Usually I make like 400, 500,” he said. “Those have been my usually earnings the past few years, but this is actually my best year so far.”

Big Cat is back in Jupiter, Florida as he gets his offseason underway. While there was plenty of negatives in 2015 for Tiger Woods, he ended it on a high note. His fans are still behind him and cheering for his every move. Whether you love him or hate him, Woods will continue to move the needle and his 2015 season proves it.

Next: Tiger Woods Relapses at Wyndham Championship Ending Playoff Hopes

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