Finchem: PGA Tour preparing for a future without Tiger

The day is inevitable. There will one day be a PGA Tour without Tiger Woods. When that will be is anyone’s guess, but Tour commissioner Tim Finchem isn’t all that worried about it.

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Why? The Tour has already faced long stretches without Woods, including for nine months after the 2008 U.S. Open, the first quarter of 2010, three months in 2011 and much of 2014.

Finchem sees Woods walking away as a double-edged proposition.

“So it’s good news, bad news. I mean, it’s more bad news than good news because it’s like Michael Jordan stepping away to play baseball that year,” Finchem said Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. “He’s your No. 1 player. He’s the player that on balance fans want to watch play more than any other.”

Finchem believes Woods will continue to be the Tour’s top draw for “a long time.” However, he knows from experience that the sport eventually moves on to the next big thing.

“I remember how long it took for all of us, fans, media, to come to grips with Jack (Nicklaus) stepping away. It took years,” Finchem said. “Nobody wanted to let Jack go and finally he started playing some on the Champions Tour.”

If the Tour can develop new stars — the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Brooks Koepka come to mind — then Finchem believes any long-lasting decline in Woods’ game won’t be that big of a detriment.

“The PGA Tour is going to be fine,” Finchem said. “But when you lose your No. 1 player, in a time when
he’s still at an age where he can really play — if he can get back to that level — it’s not going to let you perform at the same level as you would with him.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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