Detailed Discussion on the Tiger Effect with Mark Canno
In this discussion, Mark Canno, a golf enthusiast and coach, discusses his experience with golf and his perspective on Tiger Woods' impact on the sport. Mark shares that he started playing golf in high school and continued to play avidly over the years. He became a coach for the Rye Neck team and eventually took over as head coach. Mark also discusses how he consumes golf content, including reading magazines like Golf Digest and watching major tournaments.
The conversation then shifts to Tiger Woods and his influence on golf. Mark acknowledges the positive impact Tiger had on the sport, including increased media attention, higher TV ratings, and a significant boost in prize money. However, he also highlights the negative effect on professional players, as the competition became much tougher with the influx of new talent. Mark shares his favorite memories of Tiger, particularly the 1997 Masters and the 2000 Pebble Beach tournament where Tiger's exceptional performance stood out.
When asked about Tiger as a role model, Mark expresses some reservations, stating that while Tiger's competitive drive and winning attitude are admirable, he believes there are better role models in other sports. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the overall improvement in the quality of high school golfers and the motivation it has sparked among recreational players, although Mark attributes this more to the increased popularity of the sport rather than Tiger's influence specifically.
Overall, Mark's insights shed light on the significant impact Tiger Woods had on golf, both in terms of the sport's popularity and the level of competition, while also offering a nuanced perspective on Tiger's role as a role model.
Mark Canno
I was born in Cincinnati, but moved here [Northeast] in the early 70s. Went to Rye Neck High School, played in the golf, didn't really start playing golf till 9th grade. Took to it right away. That was like early 80s. It wasn't as popular as it is now, but got into it, tried out for the high school team, made it. Rhineneck was a very small school, so it wasn't that tough to make it, but improved a lot by junior and senior year was in low 40s then. Didn't play as much at college. I went away to Boston College, then joined Metropolis Country Club in White Plains in the early ninety's and been there ever since. Over the last 30 years played very avid golf, 35, 40 rounds a year. And then the coaching came about in the early 2000s, like 2004 or five. I saw the Rhieneck team had been doing very poorly, so I volunteered, just helped out with the team for two or three years. Then I met Rye golf Club Hampshire at the driving range. And then 2006, the head coach became the principal of the middle school and they asked Would you want to take over?
Mark Canno
Thought I would do it for a couple of years and 16 years later I'm still coaching there. So it's been a real fun experience and had some great players over the years, college players, and just real fun experiences and beautiful courses. So it's been great.
Sajiv Mehta
That's great. Yeah. How would you say you consume golf content these days? Like, you watch them on TV, you go golf tournaments, you read anything.
Mark Canno
Yeah, good mix. I'm one of the rare guys that still gets magazines. I still get Golf Digest in the mail. I'm not a big online guy, so more reading the local papers for local information. USA Today. For more, the PGA Stuff and the Golf Digest. And I watch a lot. Certainly watch all the majors, good amount of usually just Sundays for the week to week tournaments, but the majors pretty much every round. And I go whenever it's close. I've been to several US opens Wingfoot Shinnecock Bethpage. I went to Pebble Beach, the famous year of Tiger 2000. So I've probably been to 10-12 US opens. Went to the Masters once, the famous one with Fowler came back and beat Greg Norman 1996. That's a great event. So, yeah, I go whenever it's close. And a few I've traveled for, but yeah, really huge. Avid fan playing, watching everything.
Sajiv Mehta
So this is all about generational things, right? I saw a gap in the media and younger people being represented. I'm trying to put that out there, trying to show members of community, like give them contrasting perspectives about topics that are important in the golf community today. So I'm going to give my perspective about the pre-post Tiger thing.
Mark Canno
Going to give you a little thing.
Sajiv Mehta
And I'm going to give you a pretty open floor for whatever you want to jump off of, from what I say. All right, so, obviously, I was really young in the Tiger era. I wasn't really a golfing person. And I've really grown up watching more of the people who tried to emulate Tiger than actually Tiger.
Mark Canno
Right.
Sajiv Mehta
I see their admiration, and I obviously see the famous clips of Tiger at Augusta Tori. But I wasn't there. Right? I didn't watch the tournaments or see everything that was going on. I didn't know who his rivals were. And Prime Tiger is like this mysterious figure in the media, right? He's had this huge effect, but I never really understood what that effect is. Obviously, he's done so much for the game, but how did that come about?
Mark Canno
What did he do?
Sajiv Mehta
And what was the environment surrounding him? Because that's something that you can never really capture with a clip or an article. So I thought I would ask someone who knew.
Mark Canno
All right, yeah, that's great. I'd say that's a good point. But pre 1996, I think there was huge attention on the majors US open. Obviously the Masters every year come April, maybe a few other events, TPC, but otherwise there wasn't once he came along in 94, 95, 96 with the UA AM, and then obviously Masters 97. You really notice any event, he played in huge TV ratings, much more national interest, not just local at the site. So, obviously it's been a positive. I'd say 95%. I'd say media attention, much higher. Fan attention, double, triple TV ratings, much higher. The money he's brought, the game has been amazing. I mean, the average persons back then were the winner would get 400,000. Now towards a $1.5m - $1.8m. It's crazy. So not just him. I mean other players, obviously, Mickelson, there's been some other huge Mcilroy now, but Tiger has really got a jump start with the TV rights and obviously the ratings. The negative, I could see the only slight negative. He brought so many new people to the game, which is great on the country club level, fill in the clubs and the public courses. But on the pro level, it's made it so much harder for these guys to make a living.
Mark Canno
The 125th golfer now, as you know, it's so hard to make that top 125, to make the Tour, to make the Korn Ferry Tour. 30 years ago, 1990s, 1980s. 40 years ago, there was thousands of good golfers. Now there's tens of thousands. So I think that's interesting. Golf was great, and, like I said, great for the boom and public courses and country clubs. But I think it did have a negative effect. It just made the competition so tough that it is way tougher to make any of the Tours now.
Sajiv Mehta
So, just some questions, quick questions about Tiger. What is your favorite memory of Tiger? Do you have something that stands out in your mind?
Mark Canno
Yeah, I'm honest. I'm going to be honest, I didn't usually root for him. I was more of a Mickelson guy. I knew he was great for golf. When he had a good round he was very obviously in an amazing mood. However, on those tough days, he was tough on the media, not the greatest interview. So I'm honest, I didn't root for him a lot, but any of those famous ones, the 97 Masters was incredible. The most recent one with his son there at the end, and some great ones where he won, hugging his parents at the end. I was at, like I said, 2000 Pebble Beach, impossible conditions. Guys are shooting 80, 78, and he won by 15. He was twelve under. Second place was three over. I mean, that was just to see that golf, that was like, by far the best I think that by far the best golf ever played. Because, I mean, the course was unplayable when he was twelve under, and it was incredible. So that's probably my biggest memory because I was there, the 2000 all right.
Sajiv Mehta
Just going a little bit off that.
Sajiv Mehta
You didn't really root for him, but obviously now you see everyone's a Tiger fan. Everyone wants to see him succeed. Did everyone want to see him succeed, like earlier in his career? When do you think?
Mark Canno
Yeah, that's a good question. I'd say at the start, yes. So 1997, 98, 99 95%, never 100% then. Whether it was Sergio, whether it was Phil, whether it was just was that guy's name Bob May? And the PGA people wanted to see an upset. I don't think they were rooting against Tiger. I think they were more just rooting for the upset. But I do think more in the 2008, 09, 10, 11, 12, those years when he wasn't playing as well and became a little tougher with the media, I do think it was a little more backlash, but people were against it. But I still would say of my friends or the people I played golf with, probably 70% were still rooting for him. And then when he had obviously all the things go wrong in his life and made that comeback, then it did seem like it was more like 90, back to 90 or 95% [rooting for him]. So I think it was high. High at the start and extremely high now. In the middle of his career, he was still the most popular player, but I think he was also a little polarized. Definitely some people like to root against him, but now I agree with you.
Mark Canno
I think since the comeback, it's at least 95% rooted for okay.
Sajiv Mehta
And going off the comeback, all these things surrounded Tiger's career off the course. With that, do you think he's still a good role model for kids today to look up to him?
Mark Canno
I'm going to probably say not great. I'm honest, I think it's okay to root for him that's okay. But role model? Yeah, I would say yes his competitive fire is caring about winning. Winning all. There's some great stuff there, but definitely, I'd say not the perfect role model. Definitely better ones out there. Whether it's on the golf course, whether it's tennis, I'm a big tennis guy. Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal, those guys I would look to as better role models. Mike Trout in baseball, not an awful one, but definitely better ones out there. Yeah. Okay.
Sajiv Mehta
So I know you run your own tournament and you have for a while, and I just wanted to know, obviously, the Tiger rise has been a lot and have you seen a lot of changes as the games become more popular as a result of him in the quality of even high school golfers or in your tournament?
Mark Canno
Yeah, definitely just in the years I've done it, from 2006 till now, when I started, if a guy broke 40, you were considered a really good high school golfer. Now, as you know from your team, you got to be shooting 36, 37 under par to be really good. You make the team if you shoot 41. So, yeah, just the all section, the guys that make states, the level has gone much higher. I'd say just in these 15 years that I've done two and a half to three strokes per nine holes. That's a lot. I mean, used to be 40, you got a chance to make sectional. Now you got to be at 37. So it's maybe two and a half, four to five strokes per 18 holes. The kids have gotten better in those years and there's still not a ton of kids from this area. Cameron Young, obviously. Unbelievable. James Nicholas that have gone on to these huge schools, wake Forest and Vanderbilt. There's been a few, but you still have a lot more kids going to Ivy League schools to Patriot League has been very popular. Four or five kids have gone to either the Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette Rowdy.
Mark Canno
So, yes, more college players, but just much more competitive teams from Scarsdale to Rye to Mamaroneck to Harrison, just really yeah. So I would say it's gotten better at all schools, but especially the top end.
Sajiv Mehta
Okay, and just one last question around it. So obviously the motivation for the competitive players has skyrocketed, but what about the motivation for recreational players like the people you play with? You see, a motivation for them to get better is higher because of what they see in Tiger and how the game has become bigger and there's more people. Is there like a more competitive aspect even in the more recreational side of golf?
Mark Canno
That's interesting. I'd say somewhat. I wouldn't attribute that as much to Tiger. I do think he got a lot of people off their couches. Hey, let me try this game. Go to the drive range. They took the game up. I didn't notice in the last amongst the guys I play with at Metropolis or my friends. Where they want to win - don't think it changed that much as a result of Tiger. I think just getting more people out there playing all over the country, all over the world. So you got to give them huge credit for that. Certainly the amount of people playing.