FYI:

The number of rounds of golf played late in 2020 have seen enormous surges versus 2019 as all kinds of golfers – from novices to past enthusiasts reentering the sport – have sought escape from the coronavirus pandemic. But that doesn’t mean 2020 will set the growth record.

Turns out, even this year’s flood of golfers can’t beat Tiger Woods in his youth.

The National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech, both industry observers tracking rounds played and trends, estimate in a report released this week that 2020 will end with about a 12-percent increase in rounds played in the United States over 2019’s total round played. That equates to 50 million more rounds played in 2020, the second-highest increase of any year reported.

The highest? That would be 1997, when Woods grabbed international fame with his record-breaking Masters title at the age of 21.

The U.S. saw a jump in rounds played of 63 million in 1997 over 1996, according to Golf Datatech. That year spawned what became known as the “Tiger Effect” as players flocked to the game in the wake of Woods’ inspirational April performance.