Month: October 2007

Fry’s Electronics Open

The Fry’s Electronics Open starts today in Scottsdale, AZ. Phil Mickelson is a playing, so that’s kind of a reason to watch a Fall Series event. If you care about who keeps their tour card, then that’s another reason to watch. A lot of golf blogs are smothering the issue of what players are on the bubble.

Use your imagination to make the remaining few weeks of the PGA Tour’s 2007 season matter.

These guys’ lives are on the line. If they don’t make the cut, they’re either heading back to Q-School or hunting around for sponsor’s exemptions for a year. Their livelihood is at stake. A guy could be having a baby and need to secure his card to feed the kid. Or he could be waiting on that big win to buy an engagement ring for his sweetheart.

The failure or success of these pursuits is televised. Live. Love could go unanswered. Children could starve. Tune in.

Gatorade Tiger – Biggest Athlete Ever?

Woods to Unveil ‘Gatorade Tiger’ in 2008 – New York Times:

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Golfweek magazine reported last month it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million, moving him closer to the $1 billion mark in career endorsements.

This reminds me of a debate I had about who was a more prominent athlete, Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. I’m a golf fan and I’m biased. I’ve also grown up following Woods’ accomplishments, starting with his U.S. Junior Amateur three-peat. I’m not a basketball fan, and thus cannot fully appreciate Michael Jordan’s accomplishments on the court.

However, Woods seems to have the edge over Jordan off of the course / court. What would be a good measure? Name recognition? That may be biased because Woods is a contemporary athlete while Jordan’s playing years are history. Who earns more isn’t a great measure, either because of inflation and other market forces.

There’s just a gut feeling that Woods is the bigger athlete. He’s consistently ranked as one of, if not the, most influential people in the sports world.

The drawback to Woods’ career, with respect to being a popular athlete, is that golf being the game that it is, Woods’ impact and image may fade faster than Jordan’s. We still see Jordan in Gatorade and Hanes underwear commercial (among other places). If Tiger remains healthy and his drive to compete continues, he could compete well into his 40s on the PGA Tour. Tiger has already played on the PGA Tour for eleven years. He’s easily got another ten to fifteen years to go. Jordan played fourteen seasons, total.

What do you think?

Seasonal Club Selection

Running with the topic of the last post, club selection, I’m curious whether players often change the clubs in their bag depending on the season. This is probably more of a temperature issue. Hitting a 2-iron in 50* weather is not a fun thing to do, and the sting of a mishit can leave your hands ringing for the rest of the round.

I don’t like 5-woods, but I would consider swapping my 2-iron for a 5-wood. Other than that, I wouldn’t change much.

Limited Club Selection

I just answered a post at TheSandTrap, which prompted:

You can only use five clubs to play your next round. Quick! What do you pick?

My response:

The five clubs I would take are:

1) Putter
2) 56* sand wedge
3) 8 iron
4) 3 iron
5) Driver

Wost case scenario, I’m left with a 120 – 135 yard carry over something and the 8 iron flies too far and the wedge too short. But, I suppose I would do a good bit of positioning during the round to avoid that yardage / situation.

Taking a putter seems to be a given for many people. I’m not convinced I would need it. I do pretty well using the blade of my sand wedge. The driver is somewhat irrelevant, too. I could drive with a three-iron and be sufficiently long to score well. On most courses, with the five clubs above I would probably be using the three-iron off of the tee to position for the eight-iron.

Range Notes: To the Course!

I played for the first time in months today. I’ve been hitting range balls every few days for weeks now, savoring the final golfable days of the fall season in New England. The course was beautiful, empty and quiet. The foliage was in full swing. For nine holes, I walked through a corridor of color. The brick red and muted yellow leaves reminded me of high school golf. Back then, the leaves were distractions. They coved up my ball in the fairway and littered my putting line. This afternoon, though, the leaves were a perfect backdrop.

Saying I played nine holes is a little misleading. I basically took the range onto the course and got my $22 worth by playing five to eight balls per hole. It was much more enjoyable than hitting balls on the range, although my weaknesses were highlighted. I drove the ball well. I hit my irons well. I hit some miraculous flop-shots. Putting it all together, however, is something that I’m saving for my next late-fall round.

Where Have All The Characters Gone?

One of my favorite TV shows lately is HBO’s “Deadwood,” a Western set in the 1870s in what later became South Dakota. The strength of the show lies with its characters, the prime example being Al Swearengen, a saloon owner and general overseer of the town. Al’s authenticity jumps off of the screen. He is cruel, funny and intelligent all at once. And that’s before he’s opened his mouth to swear at you and offer you a drink.

When I watch golf, I’m watching for entertainment. As a good golfer, the players’ performances go a long way towards accomplishing that goal. However, to a less dedicated golfer or to a non-golf fan, golf is very unwatchable. The players performances cannot be appreciated and golf doesn’t seem to conjure up that universal nostalgic feeling that baseball does for many folks. Instead, non-golf fans are left with dorky commentary and an abundance of quickly clipped shots of various no-name golfers.

Part of the reason I became so enamored with golf in the first place was because some of the players of the past had such strong characters. They put their personalities on display instead of tucking them neatly into the side-pocket of their golf bag along with their watch and other valuables. Guys – who seemed more like guys than professionals or men – like Chi Chi Rodriguez and Lee Travino had fun with the game. They joked with the gallery and seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing. Even Arnold Palmer would hitch his pants for the gallery.

You don’t see players’ personalities anymore more unless it’s in a made for TV special. Only then might they cautiously reveal that they’re wine connoisseurs or they like to snowboard. Whoopie. But, get them back on the course and it’s like they’re in a business meeting – a focus fest – an anti-smile-a-thon.

Well, they’ve raised a lot of money lately. Maybe it’s time to give some back. Crack a smile guys. Give a fan a high-five. It’s good for the game and who knows, maybe you’ll inspire some other nine-year old kid to pick up a club and start talking up his game on the range.

Valero Texas Open: Round One

The Valero Texas Open begins today. The Texas Open has been played in San Antonio, TX since 1922, which makes San Antonio the longest running host city of any PGA Tour event.

Colt Knost, who won this year’s U.S. Amateur, is making his PGA Tour debut thanks to a sponsor’s exemption. This guy turned down invites to three of next year’s major championships to try to play his way onto the PGA Tour this fall.

Other watchables include Texan (and Prince Andrew look-alike) Justin Leonard, John “Long Ball” Daly, the owner of the coolest name in golf, Spike McRoy, and one of my all-time favorite players, Corey Pavin.

To the reader: Are you going to watch this week’s Texas Open? Why?