At what point do we pay attention to stacked leaderboards?

Sports events often take awhile to get rolling. Casual NBA viewers don't tune into a basketball game until the last five minutes or so. NASCAR races can be pretty dull affairs for the middle 200 miles. And there's a reason why they say the Masters doesn't begin until the back nine on Sunday.

With that in mind, what does it take to get you excited -- chuffed, as they say across the pond -- about an early tournament leaderboard? We've got just such a situation going on right now over in Dubai. 

After two rounds, Rory McIlroy leads the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, with Sergio Garcia one stroke back, Tiger Woods four strokes back, and Lee Westwood T11 at six strokes behind. Any way you cut it, that's some fairly significant star power at the top of the charts.

The Woods fans will pour out of the woodwork, emboldened by his second-round 66 and closing eagle. Good sign? Absolutely. Indication that the worst is over? Not yet.

This, then, is our question to you, friends: At what point do you start paying attention to a tournament? Woods draws as many eyeballs as the rest of the golf world combined (not an exaggeration; that's what it means when ratings drop 50 percent when he's not in a tournament). So do you start watching the leaderboard early if one of your favorites is in contention, or are you a "meet you on Sunday" type? Have your say.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/golf_experts/post/At-what-point-do-we-pay-attention-to-stacked-lea?urn=golf-320327

Chris Pronger Nate Prosser Dalton Prout Logan Pyett