Skins Game 2005-2008: How Tiger Woods Killed the Event

Tiger Woods never had very much success in the Skins Game. The one thing he did do, however, was kill the event, which ended in 2008.

As the Skins Game played its final three years, the interest in the event became less and less. That went for the players and the fans both. Ultimately, Tiger Woods killed the Skins Game in a couple of different ways, ending that period in the history of golf.

After Fred Funk won in 2005, the last event in which Woods played, it was Stephen Ames (yes, Stephen Ames) who won in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the Canadian won $590,000 to top Mr. Skins, Fred Couples. In 2007, Ames beat Couples again, this time with $675,000 in prize money.

More from Golf History

• Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
• “Love Weather” Dominates at RSM Classic: Rain and Wind and Golf
• Davis Love III, Zach Johnson Reflect on What They Learned as Ryder Cup Captains
• Reflections on a Pilgrimage to the Home of Golf
• David Duval Says Memories Abound at Constellation Furyk & Friends

In 2008, Ames was unable to make it three in a row. Instead, it was K.J. Choi taking home first place with $415,000 in prize money. And that was the end of the Skins Game. The following year, there was not enough interest by players or fans to have another one.

And that means that Tiger Woods killed the Skins Game.

How? Well, Woods killed it in two ways. First, when Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson played in the first Skins Game in 1983, the prize money was very serious to the legends. They were making a season’s worth of money in an afternoon, if they had a good day.

When Woods came onto the PGA Tour, the interest in the tour went way up and so did the prize money. More sponsors and more cash on the regular tour made an event like the Skins Game even more irrelevant. Players could play in the regular season and not have to go out of their way to play in the event.

Second, more Tiger meant more television audiences during the regular season. The Skins Game used to be a chance to get up close and personal with some of the legends of the game, and to see them on television when fans might not be able to regularly. With Woods, the PGA Tour was on all the time, even spawning the Golf Channel because of the massive interest in the game.

Finally, Tiger changed the mentality of PGA Tour players. He was so focused on playing a precise schedule, based around each season’s four majors, and playing in an event like the Skins Game was not worth it to Woods. That mentality carried over to other players, who valued their rest more than they did getting an easy paycheck (or not) by playing in an event like the Skins Game.

For those of you who are missing the Skins Game this Thanksgiving week, you can blame Tiger Woods. But also be thankful for the Big Cat because he’s the one who took golf to an entirely new level, one where something like the Skins Game doesn’t need to exist.