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Tiger, McIlroy dominate the leaderboard on social media

The absence of Tiger Woods from the Masters could negatively affect the reach of the event on social media platforms, as Woods remains the most dominant golfer on social media by a large margin. The fan base for Woods is at nearly 7 million followers, more than three times his closest competitor.

Fans want to stay connected to McIlroy and Woods.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

According to a review of the current top 50 players, Woods is joined by fellow Nike endorser Rory McIlroy as the only two golfers with more than 2 million supporters across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as of April 2.

Twitter is the most popular social media tool, with 35 of the top 50 golfers represented on the site. Woods is first with 3.8 million fans, followed by McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson and Lee Westwood to round out the top five. Notable popular golfers on Twitter outside the current top 50 include Stewart Cink with 1.1 million followers and John Daly with 371,000.

On Facebook, Adam Scott and Graeme McDowell join Woods, McIlroy and Watson as the most liked, all with more than 75,000 fans.

Instagram is the least used of the social networks for golfers, but some younger golfers have used the platform to show their off-course sides. Rickie Fowler has become the most popular golfer on Instagram, showcasing his life away from the game, while Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley also have used the growing social media site effectively.

All numbers were compiled based on official accounts for each golfer based on their current Official World Golf Ranking.

Followers by platform

Rank Golfer Home Country Total Supporters
1 Tiger Woods U.S. 6,887,222
2 Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland 2,252,030
3 Ian Poulter England 1,719,273
4 Bubba Watson U.S. 1,220,764
5 Rickie Fowler U.S. 816,057
6 Lee Westwood England 695,107
7 Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland 662,867
8 Luke Donald England 550,803
9 Jason Dufner U.S. 407,757
10 Dustin Johnson U.S. 362,602
11 Justin Rose England 335,440
12 Keegan Bradley U.S. 330,090
13 Hunter Mahan U.S. 280,282
14 Sergio Garcia Spain 278,505
15 Zach Johnson U.S. 201,550
16 Webb Simpson U.S. 131,641
17 Brandt Snedeker U.S. 123,547
18 Francesco Molinari Italy 113,563
19 Jordan Spieth U.S. 110,909
20 Adam Scott Australia 101,275
21 Henrik Stenson Sweden 100,185
22 Ernie Els South Africa 92,043
23 Charl Schwartzel South Africa 70,264
24 Graham Delaet Canada 57,349
25 Gary Woodland U.S. 53,152
Rank Golfer Total supporters
1 Tiger Woods 3,834,032
2 Rory McIlroy 1,856,793
3 Ian Poulter 1,618,159
4 Bubba Watson 1,083,058
5 Lee Westwood 633,613
6 Rickie Fowler 630,231
7 Graeme McDowell 569,728
8 Luke Donald 474,119
9 Jason Dufner 364,451
10 Justin Rose 321,106
Rank Golfer Total supporters
1 Tiger Woods 2,996,001
2 Rory McIlroy 375,192
3 Bubba Watson 137,706
4 Adam Scott 101,275
5 Graeme McDowell 76,777
6 Sergio Garcia 65,481
7 Luke Donald 63,500
8 Ian Poulter 63,226
9 Dustin Johnson 63,167
10 Lee Westwood 61,494
Rank Golfer Total supporters
1 Rickie Fowler 185,826
2 Dustin Johnson 60,399
3 Tiger Woods 57,189
4 Keegan Bradley 40,486
5 Ian Poulter 37,888
6 Jordan Spieth 30,135
7 Rory McIlroy 20,045
8 Graeme McDowell 16,362
9 Justin Rose 14,334
10 Luke Donald 13,184

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