I've always admired Stewart Cink for his consistency on the greens. The guy is just a great putter. As an aspiring golfer, I used to live for big drives and wedges into tucked pins, even though my instructor and the adult golfers I knew always told me 'the money is won on the green.' In the last couple weeks, between the loss to Tiger at the Accenture and today letting O'Hair sneak by at the PODS, the fact is that Cink's losses are mainly due to everything he did off the green. I'm not insinuating that the short game is losing its significance as the key to winning tournaments. However--I have no trouble reminding those who missed Cink's last few rounds that his mistakes came off the tee and from his second shots.
What might this mean in the larger picture?
Maybe it just reinforces what makes golf one of the hardest, if not the hardest, sport there is: every shot counts. You can hit a great tee shot and then thin your next shot over the green. You can have a horrible tee shot and then recover with a great iron shot. Or for many of us out there who can relate to what I've already mentioned--you may have a horrible tee shot, horrible second shot, and once you finally reach the green and the hole seems like a mile away and in utter depression you wonder why your not at home lounging on the couch in front of the tube, somehow: you sink your putt. It doesn't matter if your a 15 or 2 handicap. One stroke can revitalize your whole round.
The thing is that I just don't see that fight in many players anymore. Obviously Tiger has it. He can be struggling and we won't know it, until he makes that one putt where his fist pump and tiger growl shows the intensity that has boiled to the surface and now finally been unleashed. Young guys today aren't showing that they want to be there. I don't see the fight. I don't see the desire to win. Maybe they're just being overshadowed by Tiger's dominance, but I guess I am just in what seems like an endless period of waiting for some player to come along and shake the dust out this crumby old game that has become Tiger's playground.
I thought Cink could do it because of his experience and natural strengths around the green. But let down once again, I guess I'll just continue to wait.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
I'm a little upset about something. It's one of those fleeting thoughts that enters my mind for a half a second and then I move on. However, today its lasted a bit longer than half a second. There may be a poetic or sophisticated way to say it, but I don't really care for that, so here it goes. I don't get why PGA players, like our famed Tiger Woods, are allowed to have huge gaps of time between their tournaments. I guess what I mean is that when I think about a sport like baseball or basketball, their a set schedule like in golf, however the players are required to not only be at the game, but play. That's how they earn their salaries. That's how they make their living. And more than anything, I think their commitment to their sport of choice is how they earn the respect of fans.
I'm sad to say I'm losing respect for some golfers. Why is it that they can have three weeks between one tournament and the next? Of course I am specifically speaking to Tiger Woods, who tends to play in tournaments once a month, unless their happens to be a major that month. Why can he do this and not other players? Well I guess one of the obvious answers is that, well, he can. The guy made around 12 million bucks last year from golf alone and then around 80 million off of endorsements. So we get it, he has money and thus winning tournaments isn't about the money for him, its about the glory. That may be an admirable quality, but it can be disputed.
Here's all I'm saying--if I had 2 or 3 weeks to practice everyday with my trainer and instructor, I think I could do pretty well at a tournament too. This goes especially for other PGA players, who have to play in many tournaments whether for the money, for exemptions, for status, or possibly, maybe, ummm, for fun. I just don't feel like Tiger is even part of the PGA anymore. I feel like he has his own professional golf association that reigns above all.
I think its unfair. A guy like Vijay Singh (who I have personal vendetta against because he bashed Annika when she wanted to play with the men) practices hard consistently, and must play in 75% to 85% of all PGA events. He wins sometimes, and other times doesn't. Sometimes he's in the top ten, sometimes he's not. But guess what, at least I know he's human. Tiger on the other hand enters into tournaments rarely, which does a variety of things. It allows him his own personal preparation, which is longer than most other players. Also, it sparks something int the minds of other players, something to the degree of "uh oh, tiger's playing." And why do they fear him? We've been over this. He dominates every aspect of the game. But maybe that has something to do with the fact that he is well rested and confident because he's HAD TIME to practice and work out any kinks in his game. The list of reasons for his victorious streak goes on.
It just upsets me. The game should be equal and the man that is sanctified and praised for reviving the game may have an unfair advantage.
I'm sad to say I'm losing respect for some golfers. Why is it that they can have three weeks between one tournament and the next? Of course I am specifically speaking to Tiger Woods, who tends to play in tournaments once a month, unless their happens to be a major that month. Why can he do this and not other players? Well I guess one of the obvious answers is that, well, he can. The guy made around 12 million bucks last year from golf alone and then around 80 million off of endorsements. So we get it, he has money and thus winning tournaments isn't about the money for him, its about the glory. That may be an admirable quality, but it can be disputed.
Here's all I'm saying--if I had 2 or 3 weeks to practice everyday with my trainer and instructor, I think I could do pretty well at a tournament too. This goes especially for other PGA players, who have to play in many tournaments whether for the money, for exemptions, for status, or possibly, maybe, ummm, for fun. I just don't feel like Tiger is even part of the PGA anymore. I feel like he has his own professional golf association that reigns above all.
I think its unfair. A guy like Vijay Singh (who I have personal vendetta against because he bashed Annika when she wanted to play with the men) practices hard consistently, and must play in 75% to 85% of all PGA events. He wins sometimes, and other times doesn't. Sometimes he's in the top ten, sometimes he's not. But guess what, at least I know he's human. Tiger on the other hand enters into tournaments rarely, which does a variety of things. It allows him his own personal preparation, which is longer than most other players. Also, it sparks something int the minds of other players, something to the degree of "uh oh, tiger's playing." And why do they fear him? We've been over this. He dominates every aspect of the game. But maybe that has something to do with the fact that he is well rested and confident because he's HAD TIME to practice and work out any kinks in his game. The list of reasons for his victorious streak goes on.
It just upsets me. The game should be equal and the man that is sanctified and praised for reviving the game may have an unfair advantage.
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