From virtual to real thing (PGATOUR.com)

PGATOUR.COM

NEW YORK—Last November, Tiger Woods was in Melbourne for the Australian Masters, halfway around the world from his two children. But thanks to the marvels of modern technology—specifically Skype—Woods was videochatting online with son Charlie.

Suddenly, Charlie disappeared.

Before Woods could hit the fatherly panic button, though, Charlie quickly re-emerged with his iPad, opened the tablet and proceeded to play a video game, which he showed to his dad 10,000 miles away.

It left Woods very proud … and very amazed. After all, Charlie was just 19 months old at the time.

“I’m thinking, ‘What am I witnessing here?'” Woods recalled. “This is a whole new generation of kids. This is what they do.”

Whether it’s toddlers still in diapers or teenagers wearing droopy jeans, what they do is play video games. Consumed by video games is perhaps more appropriate. Woods understands that, which is why he considers his golf video game—the latest version of which, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters, came out March 29—more than just a form of entertainment.

For Woods, his video game is an entry into the attention span of youngsters, a way to introduce them to the game he loves in the form they love. After all, growing the game of golf with this generation is just as likely to start with a joypad rather than a sawed-off 3 wood or carrying someone’s oversized golf bag at the local club.

“No doubt,” Woods said recently while sitting in his hotel room in Times Square, set to begin a whirlwind day in Manhattan to promote his video game. “We’ve seen it at the (Tiger Woods) Foundation, at our learning centers. They play video games, they’re on the computers.

“When I grew up, I was part of that a little bit, with the old Atari when it first came out. But this is so much more realistic. It’s just part of the culture now.

“We don’t have the whole caddie system that we used to have, so this is a way for kids to get introduced to the game. And once they’re hooked—’Hey, this is pretty cool, this is fast, this is kind of exciting, this is difficult’—all of the sudden, they want to try (the real thing).”

Woods believes the inclusion of Augusta National in this year’s game will strengthen the bridge between video golf and real golf. Gamers have been clamoring for the course ever since the first Tiger Woods PGA TOUR game was released in 1999, and EA Sports has been in contact with Augusta National for years in hopes of sealing a deal.

Adding one of golf’s most iconic courses will satisfy those gamers. But Augusta National has its own reasons for finally agreeing to be included in the game.

“Our desire to help grow the game of golf throughout the world is sincere, and it is that commitment that first led us to EA Sports more than three years ago,” Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, said when the collaboration was first announced in January.

“EA Sports, Tiger Woods and the PGA TOUR have developed an extremely successful franchise that responds to one of the popular entertainment choices of kids today. We hope our inclusion will foster an appreciation for the history and traditions of the Masters and inspire the next generation of golfers.”

In fact, Augusta National plans to contribute 100 percent of its share of the game’s proceeds for the new Masters Tournament Foundation that was created to help grow the game.

Added Woods: “I didn’t really speak to Billy about it, or anything like that. But he and the Masters in general have been trying to make a concerted effort to grow the game of golf, obviously with the new Asian tournament qualifier and some of the other things with junior golf they’ve been trying to do.

“This is an extension of that. It’s a greater outreach. We’re trying to get as many kids involved in the game and obviously with the new generation playing video games, it’s just part of our culture. I think this is a wonderful way for us to promote the game of golf, and Augusta National and the Masters Tournament are on board with it.”

Woods knows that golf’s demographics tend to skew to an older audience. He also knows the economics of golf limits the sport’s exposure for many kids in his foundation.

His video game helps to balance both those scales. That’s why he gets so much satisfaction when he sees kids try their hands at the real thing.

“It feels good to give these kids an opportunity to get excited about the game, something I love and I have passion for,” Woods said. “I was lucky enough to be introduced to it. The kids we serve in the foundation, they’re not always privy to that. They grow up in neighborhoods in which golf is not accessible, it’s not affordable and, on that of that, it’s just not cool.

“So there’s dynamics there we’re trying to overcome. Certainly, this is one of the vehicles that helps.”

The First Tee, the youth development organization that encourages character building through golf, is evaluating the possibility of utilizing golf video games as an entry point into the real game.

“At some time during our next five years, The First Tee wants to reach kids where they are,” said Jennifer Weiler, vice president of strategic alignment for The First Tee, “and statistics show that kids play video games in large numbers.”

Whether its parents buying the game—the average video game player age is 34 and the average video game purchaser is 40, according to a 2010 study—and then playing it with their kids, or kids trying out the game themselves, the allure of Augusta National should definitely boost sales.

But will it boost the popularity of golf?

There’s at least one father with two young kids of his own who’s hoping for the best.