Tiger's Done Before He Even Starts
It is amazing the spectacle of rabid celebrity worship. I just read a headline from Yahoo at the start of the second round of the Masters that said “Anyone’s Jacket” in big headlines. The subtext then said: “Tiger Woods is now six shots off the lead with second-round play under way at the Masters on Friday.” This makes it sound likes he’s dying out there.
Let’s put this in context. For the last few weeks everyone was talking about Tiger as if he’d already won this year’s Master. It was a done deal. He was a shoe-in. The oddmasters had him at 2 to 1. A lock.
Yet this headline makes it sound like he done for. There’s no hope. He’s already six strokes behind. Too bad, maybe he’ll win the next one.
Whoa rabid Tiger worshippers. How quickly the media jumps off the bandwagon just so they can write a compelling headline.
Context my friends. CONTEXT.
Let’s not forgot that when this was written at about 10AM in the morning, Tiger hadn’t even teed off for the second round. His tee time was at 1:52 pm. Almost four hours later. Let me repeat that TIGER HADN’T EVEN TEED OFF YET!
A case of burying the body before the person has even died.
Mr. Media and Rapid Celebrity Worshippers, let the man actually play the course before you write him off.
Labels: PGA Tour, Tiger Woods
Tiger Gives Away Four, Yes Four Buicks
I don't know when this first appeared, but a customer of mine from New York sent me this
YouTube video of Tiger pulling a fast one on a bunch of unsuspecting golfers. The reason Tiger is so cool is that he appears to really have a great time giving these cars away. Thanks Richard for the link.
Labels: Tiger Woods
Snipe All You Want but Tiger Runs the PGA
The start of every PGA Tour season finds Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson missing from the ranks. Even V.J. Singh thinks they should have moved the tournament back at least a week to give the top dogs more time off. Some players like Jeff Ogilvie and Stephen Ames are complaining that the commissioner of the PGA, Tim Finchem is missing in action too. These players are complaining that it shows the lack of commitment to the Tour by the commissioner. Jeff & Stephen, nobody cares.
I’d love to see the top players at every tournament. The sponsors like it, the crowds thrive on it and the television networks count on it, but it will rarely happen to start the season. Top players like Tiger and Phil are brands in and of themselves. They aren’t beholden to the Tour. They will show up when the want to.
Tiger and Phil run the PGA and give the marching orders. The PGA and tour players need to understand that. Tiger, Incorporated and Phil & Company are the draws that bring in the dollars. They are the moneymakers for the PGA. They are multi-million dollars corporations and the PGA benefits from their largess. If Tiger said that he wanted to start The Tiger Tour and would commit to playing every tournament; goodbye PGA.
Let’s use tennis as an example. When Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe were playing, tennis was hot. Everyone wanted to see a Connors-McEnroe match-up. Even ladies tennis was interesting to watch when Martina, Chissy and Billy Jean King were playing.
Although Phil Sampras is considered one of the greatest tennis players in the history of the game, nobody seems to care other than hardcore tennis fans. He doesn’t capture the imagination of fans and sponsors like Tiger does. An interview with Sampras is like getting your wisdom teeth pulled and just as painful. He doesn’t make for good media fodder.
No so with Phil or Tiger. They are the game of golf today. Think Oprah and her book club. She makes best sellers out of books just by talking about them. Tiger sells cars, watches and golf clubs just by lending his name to the brand. The PGA needs to understand that they don’t make the rules anymore, the star players do.
Tim Finchem gets overpaid and has nothing to do with the Tour’s popularity. His no-show at the Mercedes-Benz Championships to start the year is a non-event. The Tour needs to realize where its bread is butter and it ain’t by Commissioner Finchem.
Labels: PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Tim Finchem, V.J. Singh
Phil and Tiger Compete on the Charity Front Too
Without the great fanfare that came with the world’s number one golfer announcing his Tiger Woods Learning Center, the world’s number two golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife Amy have partnered with ExxonMobil to support a teacher training program called the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy, which wrapped up the last of it's 2007 sessions in July.
Although modest in comparison to the Tiger Woods effort, the academy has grown to include three sessions this year -- two regional academies in Texas and Louisiana, and the national academy in Fairfax, Va. -- up from one in 2005, its first year. A total of 600 teachers attended the three academies. Each academy had the same goal: to train third- through fifth-grade teachers with new strategies and philosophies to keep kids interested in the sciences.
Even off the course in the charitable world, Tiger and Phil compete with each other. In this competition, Tiger is directing his efforts to students and Phil toward teachers. Still, both are concentrating on the precipitous drop in math and science scores occuring in the United States. It’s nice to see Phil supporting such a good cause.
Labels: Charity, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods
Sorenstam Gets Hitched. What Does This Mean for the LPGA?
Oh boy!
Annika just got hitched and you know what that means: limited schedule, retirement, clothing line, course building, babies. I mean, the girl is 36 and has been the best female golfer on the planet for the last ten years. What do you think it means for the LPGA?
Oddly, nothing.
Annika is no Tiger. She's great, don't get me wrong, but "Annika, Incorporated" ain't "Tiger, Inc." Annika is everything a good golfer should be: intelligent, understated, polite, well-spoken and a great golfer. But she is not a great interview nor does she look hot in a swimsuit.
Tiger draws. And draws and draws and draws. He single-handedly made golf the big money sport that it is today. Annika, although dominant on a golf course, isn't anything close to that off it. She has been pushed off the front pages of golf magazines to show Natalie Gulbis in a swimsuit and the continued meltdown of Michelle Wie.
Just look at Lorena Ochoa to see how little attention the top female golfers get in the mainstream golf media. I mean that girl has won three golf tournaments in a row this year, but she doesn't speak English that well so we don't really care.
She's won eight tournaments, including a major. I bet you didn't know that. That fact alone makes my point in spades.
Once the happy couple decides on a wedding date, Annika will start to plan her retirement date.
The great golf seer has spoken.
Labels: Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, LPGA, Michelle Wie, Natalis Gulbis, Tiger Woods
Is It Too Early to Canonize Saint Tiger Woods?
In the 100-degree heat of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the greatest golfer of my lifetime ceaselessly toiled to his 13th major victory. At 31, he showed no ill effects from the heat, no sign of being off his game nor of backing down.
In the span of two weeks he wins the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by eight strokes, then he marches on to a convincing victory in the PGA Championship for his 59th tournament win. Saying that the greatest golfer in history was someone like Nicklaus, Hogan or Palmer will always be defended, but the strength of these arguments are rapidly weakening.
It is impossible to make straight-up comparisons between golfers of different generations if they’ve never played against each other. In the case of Tiger Woods, he is clearly the best golfer of this generation and will likely become the best golfer of any generation. Why?
Tiger Woods, has won at every level; from the juniors to the professional ranks. He has won in every condition, on every course, won from behind, with a lead, against the best in the world and against one-hit wonders. He doesn’t make mistakes, is relentless, has a higher gear when it is needed, makes the shots he should and makes the shots he shouldn’t. He has the aura and mystic that he is invincible (note the 13-0 when he has the lead in a major). He is photogenic, well-spoken and doesn’t get into personal trouble Tiger has had public personal tragedies and personal triumphs. He doesn’t have bad habits, doesn’t gamble away, doesn’t get caught in compromising situations.
He’s a saint and a marketing wunderkind. He is the unofficial spokeperson for golf. Unlike Michael Jordan, who arguably is the greatest basketball player in history, Tiger has to win all of these tournaments on his own. Jordan had a team around him.
Tiger plays a schedule that is probably half as active as most of his closest competitors and has now won his 13th major. Jack Nicklaus, considered the greatest golfer to date, won 18 majors with his last coming when he was 46. If Tiger just wins one major a year from now on, he will be 36 (ten years younger than Jack when he won his last). What does one do when you’ve won everything there is to win in golf?
It is obvious that Woods has crushed the spirit of his closest competitors. Ernie Els, once considered one of the best golfers in the world tells it this way: "The statistics will tell you, yes, it is over. But as a competitor, I can't sit there and tell you it's over. I can't ever do that" (Remember, this was at the conclusion of the 3rd round).
Tiger will be the greatest golfer in history and competitors like Els, Mickelson, Singh, and Garcia will have to be content to say they were there to witness it firsthand.
How many majors does Tiger need to win before we can anoint him a saint?
Labels: Jack Nicklaus, PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, V.J. Singh
O’Grady is an Idiot if he Thinks Technology Makes Tiger Woods Great
This has to be a cry for help because this statement is just plain stupid: "When Nicklaus and Palmer played, when [Ben] Hogan played and Sam Snead played, on a scale of zero to 10, they were a nine-plus," Mac O’Grady said. "
Tiger Woods is not even a one-plus."
Then, this dolt has to go out and show his continued ignorance by saying: "The reason why [Woods] can hit it on the green is because he has square grooves," he said. "He doesn't have that, he's dead. He cannot do it -- it's impossible. For him to go after Nicklaus's records is cheating. This is like steroids."
I sense a touch of bitterness. Actually, I sense a lot of bitterness. Truckloads of it. This Mac O'Grady, a former PGA Tour player that to his credit won two tournaments, took 18 swings at qualifying in Q-school before he made it on tour. He adds to his madness by slapping the Champions Tour and calling them "powder-puff" players when he is probably of the age that he could be playing on this tour.
This must be a case of "negative publicity is better than no publicity at all" (a statement by Donald Trump) or someone who hasn’t taken his meds today because it surely can’t be based on any facts worth quoting.
To declare that technology is what has made Tiger Woods the world’s best golfer, and perhaps the best golfer of all time, is just plain ludicrous. It’s like saying that if I played a Steinway, I’d be just as good as
Glenn Gould. If I fired up a piece of composing software I'd be better than
Mozart or if I just had a better paintbrush I’d be just as good as
Michelangelo.
Tiger Woods is a great golfer because he has the most talent, not the best equipment. Every golfer has access to top-of-the-line equipment. What they lack is Tiger’s tenacity, drive, endurance, and killer instinct. He overcomes adversity. He plays consistently while those around him collapse. He knows how to manage a course and when pushed, he closes the deal. Yet, he is human like all of us and doesn’t win every tournament.
If you want to see someone with lots of natural talent and the best equipment, look at how well Michelle Wie is playing today. In her case it clearly isn’t the paintbrush but the painter that is the problem.
What a pile of crap this O’Grady is spewing. I guess that it’s okay in today’s media world though because
Ann Coulter or
Paris Hilton can say anything they want and it is still considered news too.
Labels: Jack Nicklaus, Michelle Wie, Tiger Woods
Oh Michelle Wie, I’m So Sad for You…Not!
I was wondering if the Wie Circus could get any worse. Was I ever wrong.
Now remember, I predicted that this return was
going to be a non-event.
In her inglorious return to competitive LPGA tournament play, the phenom, the queen of hype, Miss Sparkly herself Michelle Wie, has again tripped over her
huge pile of endorsement cash and fell flat on her face (er..wrist). What a joke she has become.
When she quit the latest tournament she said to an LPGA Tour official: "We're not going to play anymore." Oh you big baby. Take it like a professional.
I thought that John Daly was becoming a mockery. Was I ever wrong. Michelle Wie has taken his exalted place.
Wie of the pending 88 before withdrawing after the 16th. Wie of the “poor me…it’s my wrist again” excuse. She has turned into a pathetic golfer and manufacturers almost as many excuses as she does strokes.
She had almost five months to recover from this alleged wrist injury. She got herself a new coach and was going to work hard and point herself in the right direction. She was ready to get out there and prove herself. I guess we discovered how well all that new coaching has worked.
In an earlier post I commented that her wrist injury was conveniently timed so she could gracefully get out of the spotlight after dismal finishes in a couple of men’s events. I was taken to task by a reader accusing me of saying that her wrist injury was faked. At the time, I vehemently denied it. Now, I believe she is faking.
Football players take two weeks off when they sprain an ankle. Basketball players gut it out, limp around and are back on the court after a few games (unless it is a high ankle sprain and then it could be forever). Even Annika Sorenstam, after having sat out with both a ruptured and bulging disc for two months, returned to shoot a round of 72.
What kind of wrist injury takes five months to heal unless you have surgery on it (which she didn’t). This isn’t an injury this is just cover. Her “injury” has now become a thinly-veiled excuse for playing badly. She’s really turned out to be a disappointment.
I thought I’d look back on years past and reminisce over a time when everything looked rosy, the world was Sparkly’s oyster and Ms. Wie’s endorsement contracts were rolling in. I credit the website
www.jockbio.com for these quotes:
"I might go play the LPGA full-time and then, after I get better, go to the PGA full-time. Or just try to play both. It will be fun." -- That’s worked so well now hasn’t it?
"I don't mind when I hit a ball in the woods. I think of it as an adventure. That's when golf really starts to get interesting." – What an adventure. It’s even more fun if it goes in the water.
"I enjoy the attention. I like the cameras. In a way, they make me play better." -- No question about it, the more face time you get, the better it seems to work.
"My favorite player is Tiger Woods. I think I can beat Tiger when I’m 20. It’s a life goal." – Looking forward to it. I’ll put it on my calendar.
"My ultimate goal is to play in the Masters." -- Just like everyone else’s, but like us, you’ll never get there either.
Ah, the innocence of youth. I cry crocodile tears for you.
Labels: Annika Sorenstam, LPGA, Michelle Wie, The Masters, Tiger Woods
Minnesota Golfers Come Out of Hibernation, Squint Into the Sun and See….
...a new golf season.
Each year, Minnesota golfers, looking like speared white whales, waddle onto the first tee, take a few practice swings, and launch our best drives of the year….or maybe not.
If you like dodging snow patches, last year’s goose droppings, singed brown greens and dead grass fairways then Minnesota golf in March will be your cup of tee.
It’s March 23rd and snow is still on the ground, but Minnesota golf courses are starting to open. I know that folks in Florida, Texas or Arizona are reading this with a blank stare, but you have to understand how golfers in Minnesota suffer. We are forced to put our clubs on a shelf from around Thanksgiving until Easter.
While we wait out the winter season, we only get to dream of the warm summer days when we played 36 holes late into the evening or the 5 AM tee time when we were the only ones on the course. Our pain continues when we are forced to watch Tiger, Phil and VJ play wonderful courses in golf paradises like Hawaii, California and Florida, while the only club we get to play with is our shovel.
When we finally get our chance, we expect that we’re going to shoot our best round of the year right off the bat. Remember that 79? Well, we should be just as good today as we were last October. Our skills can’t have atrophied over the last five months because of all the perfect shots we dreamt about. Why hit the driving range or the simulator and work on our skills? What a waste of time. All we need to do is remember what we did in late August.
Minnesotans only have seven months to play the game we love while much of the rest of the golfing world can spend most of the year wearing short sleeves and playing the newest driver hot off the store shelf the day it comes out. Even if we get a new Callaway FT-i Driver for Christmas, we can only look at it, in all its $499 glory, and dream how it is going to feel when we smack that first drive on #1. Is there no wonder why we have one of the highest numbers of golf courses per capita?
We don’t have the luxury to wait two weeks to get on our favorite course in Minnesota. If we do, our season could be over.
Labels: Callaway, Minnesota, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, V.J. Singh
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #33 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand that a
PGA Player was in a High Speed Car Race,
a Japanese Company that Reprimands Golfers and
Nike Issues a Recall of Sumo Drivers.
The Guru Commentary uncovers
An Equipment Spy that Finds Nike's Sumo2 Driver Illegal. The Perfect Fit finds some odd
Ralph Maltby Equipment Ideas and She Golfs Too learns about
Colin Montgomery's New Charity.
Our Component Corner takes a look at the
Golf Ball Launcher as well as listens to
the Sounds of Today's Top 3 Selling Drivers.
In Can't We All Get Along
Boo Weekly Learns a Lesson and in Golf Around the World we visit The Continent to play a
New Golf Game Variation Called PowerPlay.Finally, Golf of the Weird learns about
Tricking Out Your Golf Cart and
a Couple That Gets Two Aces in New Zealand.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Labels: Callaway, Colin Montgomery, Nike, Sports Authority, Square Drivers, TaylorMade, Tiger Woods, USGA
Tiger Great (again). Nostradamus Strikes (again).
You may have noticed that Tiger Woods won again (ho hum). Same old, same old. The greatest golfer on the planet lurks in the weeds, let's the rookies self-destruct and wins his 55th tournament and 7th in a row. Based on what I saw on CBS, he didn't even work up a sweat.
What was absent, again, was Phil and V.J. and the rest of the crew. As I said just a week ago with my Nostradamus-like predictions, Phil Mickelson
"melts like overheated plastic in a microwave". It seems that the same can apply to V.J. when Tiger is in a tournament.
The perceived "leaders" fold like origami. Yes, they win tournament and yes, they make a lot of money, but when it comes to head-to-head competition with Tiger, they avoid it like the plague. If you think Tiger's year was good in 2006, just wait until 2007 is over. He's got that swagger again and makes winning tournaments look easier than turning over in bed.
Just a footnote related to my
last two blog posts, David Duval (T45) finished AHEAD of Phil Mickelson (T51) in another tournament (again). Now, that's two in a row. In the hotly contested FedEx Cup, Duval is ranked 97th and Mickelson at 106th.
Was golf's Nostradamus right or what? We really want to love Duval instead of Mickelson. If he keeps this up, our romance is sure to blossom.
Labels: David Duval, FedEx Cup, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, V.J. Singh
Duval Ties Woods, Mickelson Flounders. Am I Golf's Nostradamus?
About four days ago I penned a blog posting discussing
Why We'd Rather Love Duval Than Mickelson. Lost in Thursday’s hype of Brandt Snedeker's flirt with a 59 at the Buick Invitational and Tiger's T66, was the presence of David Duval tied, yes that's right TIED with Tiger at T66. Also, as a footnote, Phil Mickelson sits at T124 with a lowly 74. To be fair, I do realize that these are just the results of the first round of a four round tournament and Woods & Duval will switch to the harder South Course for round 2.
Now, I don’t think of myself as golf’s Nostradamus (okay, maybe I do if I'm right), but what did this writer say just a few days ago "Mickelson will always be a bridesmaid never a bride and we'd love to see Duval rocket back up the standings and back into our hearts."
Let's see if my assessment of Mickelson holds in that "he melts like overheated plastic in a microwave" when Tiger's around and if underdog Duval can move his way up the leaderboard.
A final pairing of Woods and Duval. How sweet would that be?
Labels: David Duval, Tiger Woods
Why We’d Rather Love Duval than Mickelson
I was looking at the standings of the recently completed Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and noticed that former #1 golfer in the world, David Duval shot an 8-under 352 to finish T-39, AHEAD of Phil Mickelson who shot a 7-under 353 and finished T-45. Currently, Mr. Duval is ahead of Mr. Mickelson in earnings too, taking home a $20,000 paycheck to Mickelson’s $15,500.
Now this might not seem like much, but it got me to thinking about two things: Mickelson will always be a bridesmaid never a bride and we'd love to see Duval rocket back up the standings and back into our hearts.
It's clear that the most dominant golfer in the world today is Tiger Woods. No question about it. In head-to-head competition with the best, he usually comes out victorious. No one has been able to touch him since he turned pro. He seems to have an extra gear that the other golfers don't have and turns it on when it really matters.
Phil Mickelson, a crowd favorite, has an attractive wife and kids, is camera-friendly, but is erratic and unpredictable. When Tiger isn’t in contention or is sitting out the week, Phil can be brilliant. When Tiger is there, look out. He tends to melt like overheated plastic in a microwave.
The guy we really want to love is David Duval. The son of a prominent golfing family, a former #1 in the world golfer, wearer of those cool wraparound sunglasses, he had Tiger Woods-type dominance when he was "da man".
We feel for his freefall from the covers of all the golf magazines. We shake our heads at his sad reliance on exemptions just to keep playing and avoid Q School. We want to love him because we've been there. We understand the pain of losing one's game.
We want to love David Duval because we devour rags-to-riches stories and we'd like to see him relive his former glory. Michelson is old news. Duval should be our new flame.
Labels: David Duval, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #29 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand on
Wie's Acceptance to Stanford, The Tiger Index and
Tiger to be a Father.
In the Perfect Fit section we explore the Benefits of Custom-Fitted Golf Clubs.
The Guru Commentary rants about
What's the Deal with Pink Golf Clubs? Our police blotter in Why Can't We All Just Get Along discovers
Stolen Golf Clubs Worth $600K. Golf of the Weird tells about the 3rd Annual Fat Boy Open.
Our Website Spotlight is
Golf Movies.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Next time listen for the third installment with the Socrates of Golf - Duffer McDoughall Johansen.
Labels: Equipment, Michelle Wie, Tiger Woods, Weird Golf Stuff, Women's Golf
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #27 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand that
Woods' Wife Sues, the
Medieval City Found Under a Golf Course and
John Daly to Divorce Again.
The Perfect Fit explores TaylorMade-addidas attempt to
Reinvent Maxfli Brand with John Daly as its star.
The Guru Commentary rants about
Michelle Wie's 11th Failure in a Men's Event and She Golf's Too talks about the
LPGA's New Drug Testing Policy.
The Component Corner highlights a
Labor Shortage in South Florida and a
$3000 Gold Golf Tee.
We travel to South Africa to Play With Crocodiles and in Golf of the Weird a Spectator
Steals a Golf Ball at a Tournament and a Russian Cosmonaut Hits a
Golf Ball in Space.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Next time listen for the next installment with the Socrates of Golf - Duffer McDoughall Johansen.
Labels: John Daly, LPGA, Michelle Wie, South Africa, TaylorMade, Tiger Woods
CLICK HERE to listen.
In Episode #24 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand about
Tiger Woods: Dream Endorser, Senate Awards Nelson a Medal, Bettor Loses Big on Ryder Cup, and
2nd Swing to Liquidate.Perfect Fit looks at
Moveable Weight Putters and The Guru Commentary rants about how the
Mitchell Golf Program is Found Lacking.
In She Golfs Too we learn about the
Top 10 Golf Injuries and the Component Corner announces the
GolfWorld Top 100 Shop Contest and a
Dumbest Golf Product Contender.In Golf Around the World we travel to
Egypt & Turkey and Golf of the Weird we hear about the
Hamster Adventure.To close out the show's Website Spotlight we play a song from
The Golf Boy.As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.Check out our new
Media Kit. Next time don't miss the interview with Duffer McDoughall Johansen.
Labels: 2nd Swing, Byron Nelson, Moveable Weights, Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods
