Tiger paved the way for young players to succeed early

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Rickie Fowler, 21, came close to his first PGA TOUR victory at the Memorial last week.

For more than a decade, we've been trying to study the Tiger Effect on the PGA TOUR.

It seems like we've been looking in the wrong places.

Instead of finding an influx of minority players on the professional golf scene -- as so many expected after Woods (and his self-professed Caubalanasian background) burst onto the scene at the 1997 Masters -- it's become obvious Woods has helped impart another profound change on the PGA TOUR.

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He's made the game younger.

When Woods won the 1997 Masters by a startling 12 shots, it sent shock waves throughout sports, all the way down to elementary school.

When Brad Faxon played high school golf, he admitted he was just a step away from joining the chess club when it came to being with the "in" crowd.

"Playing golf wasn't cool back then," Faxon, now 48, said. "Tiger made the game cool."

Kids who used to spend their recesses playing tetherball or the mainstream sports of football, basketball and baseball, suddenly opted to chase a smaller ball around. As Woods' stature continued to grow, so did the number of young athletes who chose golf.

In Woods, they found a hero who had the swagger; in golf, they found a game where the purses continued to escalate with the career longevity the other sports lacked.

In many cases, those young fans who followed Tiger's lead are now some of the players he is chasing.

Such was the case -- again -- in Sunday's final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Rickie Fowler, all of 21 years old, led for most of the week before he finally gave way to Justin Rose -- a grizzled veteran at 29 who finally won on the PGA TOUR for the first time in his 161st start. Rose becomes the 10th player in his 20s to win on the PGA TOUR this year, one more than all of last season.

This is becoming an undeniable trend. Consider that half the Memorial's top 10 were born after June of 1980 -- Rose, Fowler, Ricky Barnes (29, tied for third), Ryan Moore (27, tied for fifth) and Rory McIlroy (21, tied for 10th).

Three other twenty-somethings finished tied for 12th place: Jeff Overton (27), Brendon de Jonge (29) and Sean O'Hair (27). This is not a one- or two-week phenomenon, either.

The latest FedExCup standings has no less than 12 players in their 20s among the top 30: No. 4 Anthony Kim, No. 8 Dustin Johnson, No. 10 Camilo Villegas, No 12. Fowler, No. 13 Rose, No. 14 Bill Haas, No. 16 Overton, No. 18 Hunter Mahan, No. 20 J.B. Holmes, No. 22 Adam Scott, No. 25, Jason Day, No. 29 Barnes and No. 30 Nick Watney.

By comparison, there were seven players in their 20s among the top 30 in last year's final FedExCup standings: O'Hair (No. 5), Watney (No. 12), Johnson (No. 14), Steve Marino (No. 15), Marc Leishman (No. 20), Kevin Na (No. 26) and Mahan (No. 27).

One of the defining moments of the season came on May 2, when 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa shot a final-round 58 to win a Japan PGA Tour event, and McIlroy -- two days before his 21st birthday -- followed that feat by shooting a final-round 62 to win the Quail Hollow Championship.

"I think what's happening in golf right now is wonderful," said Jack Nicklaus, Memorial's legendary host. "We've been waiting for some of the young kids to step up. That's what golf needs."

Blame it on Tiger.

Not only did he show the teenaged crowd his game was cool, he also proved you can make millions playing a game competitively for, oh, about 40 years, if you so desire.

That's why athletic types such as Johnson -- who could dunk a basketball as a youngster -- took his talents to the golf course instead. Smart move: Nobody can take your knees out when you're hitting out of a greenside bunker.

This youth movement on the PGA TOUR isn't going to subside any time soon. Not only are these kids fearless -- wouldn't we all like to ram 4-footers into the back of the cup the way Fowler does? -- but they haven't spent the last 10 years getting their brains beaten out by Woods.

No scar tissue here, just a road map for success. The younger kids also benefit from a time when there's been rapid improvement in equipment, fitness and teaching. They haven't had to adjust on the fly like so many of the veterans. All the younger players know is large-headed drivers, core training and video machines that can detect the tiniest swing flaw.

Youth will again be featured in this week's St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew. Among the entrants is 16-year-old Jordan Spieth, who last month contended at the HP Byron Nelson Championship before tying for 16th.

The good news for Spieth is his high school is out for the summer. His education on the golf course will continue this week.

Sixteen may be the new 20.