Tiger Woods’ absence leaves 2023 U.S. Open field without Black player

LOS ANGELES − Tiger Woods, recovering from ankle surgery, won’t be at the U.S. Open that starts Thursday. Neither will the impact on golf many thought he’d have.

In 1997, Woods stoked imaginations when he became the first Black player to win the Masters. At just 21, he was the superstar some hoped (and others predicted) would revolutionize the sport by attracting more Black people to the golf course and inspiring the development of top Black pros.

Now look.

More than 26 years later, the 156-player field at the U.S. Open to be played at The Los Angeles Country Club has a clear void: no known Black players.

The caveat: The United States Golf Association (USGA), which conducts the U.S. Open, says it does not ask players about their race or ethnicity, so it’s impossible to confirm there are no Black players.

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But Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, acknowledges the governing body of U.S. golf missed an opportunity with Woods’ dramatic rise as golf’s leading man.

“I feel like we all watched the Tiger Woods parade go by and then when the parade left, it actually left,” Whan said. “Like it was a great five years.”

Fred Perpall, who in February was elected as the USGA’s first Black president, said, “I think what happens in elite golf is a reflection of the choices we’ve made in the past.”

How did golf fail after rise of Tiger Woods?

For the past decade, Kenneth Bentley has served on the board of Tiger Woods’ foundation. He is keenly aware of the opportunity golf had when Woods burst onto the pro scene.

“When Tiger won the Masters in ’97, there was no infrastructure to say, ‘OK, we want to integrate golf,’ ” said Bentley, who is Black and a member of the Farmers Insurance Exchange Board of Governors. “And I’m not sure in ’97 if the people that ran golf were really ready for there to be an influx of African American golfers.”

In 2010, Bentley set out to create infrastructure when he founded the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) to develop professional minority golfers.

It involves doing what the golf world failed to do in a sustained, meaningful way. Which is to provide access to top-flight equipment, instruction and opportunities.

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This year, for example, the APGA will host 18 tournaments with a combined prize…