The Loop

Tiger Woods loses in India, still gains plenty

February 05, 2014

__By Ron Sirak

__There are several indisputable ways in which Tiger Woods has impacted the game of golf, beyond thrusting himself into the conversation when it comes to arguing about the greatest ever.

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Tiger made the game cool with his flair, he made it possible to get exorbitantly rich playing golf as PGA Tour prize money has more than quadrupled since he turned pro in 1996 and, because of those two things, a better quality athlete has been attracted to the game.

But perhaps most importantly, Woods has expanded the borders of the game. Tiger is one of the best-known athletes in the world and he's played just about everywhere. Most recently, he took his game to India.

Woods played in a charity skins game at Delhi Golf Club on Feb. 3 with Shiv Kapur, India's top male golfer, Sharmila Nicollet, India's top female golfer, Anirban Lahiri, the CEO of automaker Hero Co., and Pawan Munjal, the Hero managing director, who set up the trip, which sources in India said earned Woods $2 million.

"I had a great time on my first visit to India," Woods told GolfDigest.com in an email interview. "It was a blast. Arjun (Atwal) had told me a lot about the country, and I was really looking forward to seeing it. I enjoy going to new places, and I feel like I learned a lot about the country while I was there."

According to TigerWoods.com, Woods made nine birdies and played before 2,000, which Tiger's website said was the largest crowd ever to watch a golf competition in India.

According to Golfingindian.com, Woods and Munjal lost the skins game to Kapur and Lahiri. Kapur played college golf at Purdue and once competed at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.

"Hopefully this visit, in some small way, helps grow the game in India," Tiger to GolfDigest.com "I don't know my future schedule, but I'd like to return there again."