Tiger Woods triumphs over golf sensation Paige Spiranac as 2023's Most-Googled Golfer
Tiger Woods added another "title" to his impressive list of honors, that of the most Googled golfer in the United States in 2023. Woods achieved this unique status by beating none other than Paige Spiranac.
The popularity of Tiger Woods and other golfers on Google was measured by Vegas Insider. The result of their research showed that Woods was the most Googled player in 42 states, followed by Spiranac with four. The states that preferred Spiranac were Alaska, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
A visual representation of the search results was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Golf Magazine journalist Dylan Dethier:
"Cracking up at this map of most-Googled golfers. a couple intriguing twists!"
Four other players achieved first place in one state each. Tom Hoge triumphed in North Dakota, while Rickie Fowler prevailed in Oklahoma, Tony Finau in Utah and Keegan Bradley in Vermont.
Tiger Woods' "triumph" went far beyond his first place in 42 states. According to Vegas Insider, Woods was in the top three Google searches in all 50 states.
Something similar is true for Paige Spiranac. The former player and current social media influencer was only outside the top three in four states - Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, and South Carolina. She still racked up 31 second place finishes.
Among the players who did not get first place in any state but also had a high level of searches, Rory McIlroy stands out. The Northern Irishman was in the Top 3 of Google searches in 29 states.
Interesting details beyond Tiger Woods' win as 2023's Most Googled Golfer
The dissonant note was undoubtedly set by Georgia, where in second place in the Google searches is Sung Kang. He is a South Korean player who played 19 PGA Tour tournaments during 2023, with only seven cuts made. Kang won the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson, the best result of his career so far.
As an interesting fact, the South Korean player is the namesake of American actor Sung Kang, famous for his participation in the Fast & Furious movies and other productions.
Only six players managed to displace Tiger Woods and the rest of the dominators from the Top 3. They were Jon Rahm in South Carolina, Viktor Hovland in Oklahoma, Sam Burns in Louisiana, Justin Thomas in Kentucky, Collin Morikawa in Hawaii and Wyndham Clark in Colorado.
Scottie Scheffler, the number one ranked player in the world and one of the most stable players of the season, does not appear in any Top 3.
However, according to the PGA Tour's Player Impact Program (PIP) ranking, Scheffler was the fifth most positive impact player for the Tour (behind McIlroy, Woods, Rahm and Jordan Spieth). It is not insignificant to mention that the PIP measures other indicators in addition to Google searches and has a global reach.
Woods played only two official tournaments during 2023 in addition to the Hero World Challenge which marked his return to the courses after six months away.
However, the 15-time Major champion had a very busy year, with preparations for the TGL League, joining the PGA Tour Policy Board, and accompanying his son Charlie in his budding career.