Golf never has been as popular or as cool as sports such as basketball and football, yet when Tiger Woods came onto the scene that all changed

Tiger Woods made golf cool to the general public. Instead of being a niche sport during his 1997-2008 heyday, golf was the "in" sport and Woods was cool the way Michael Jordan was cool. In fact, Woods transcended sport. He became a celebrity as much as an athlete, and his sport enjoyed its greatest moment in the spotlight. My story for ESPN: http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/19016063/how-tiger-woods-heyday-made-golf-cool-became-cultural-icon-transcending-game