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
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2 comments:
Sean O'Hair didn't do too badly today at the Arnold Palmer, head-to-head against Tiger. Of course, the only guy who really contended was Brad Bryant, who looks like an old headcover I once had. When Tiger sank that 24-footer for the win, I thought of this blog. Once again, Golf Soul -- you are right on.
a belated comment on Cink, one of my favorite fantasy guys along with Verplank (i just like how their names end in 'k')...i didnt hear about how Cink sunk until the day after the tourney and am still a bit shocked by it...but i think i am more shocked by what i saw this weekend at the arnold palmer event. Tiger didnt play that well. He didnt have to. The other guys were just mediocre and all Tiger had to do was hang around, shoot some normal subpar rounds and sink a long putt at the end of the last round to win. NO ONE stepped up. Vijay, who i dont like much, should have won hands down...all he had to do was shoot one under for the day. Is it Tiger who is so great or are the other guys just not that great? Are the golf Gods rooting for Tiger? Is someone paying the other guys to tank it? What is going on here? I looked at the field play 18 and some guys hit the ball into the water 2 or 3 times. These are Pros! What the heck. Even i would make an adjustment and hit the ball elsewhere. Tiger sure did. On the last hole, O'Hair hit his ball in the sand, Bryant got his on the green but way far from the hole and other guys couldnt get anywhere near the hole. Worse, i saw six or seven guys hit the same putt as Tiger and come up short...after playing the course two or three times. But, Tiger not only comes within 25 feet of the cup (admittedly a tough placement) but he sinks the putt. I think Miller said Tiger was the only one to hit the ball hard enuf. This is weird and wonderful stuff but is getting a bit boring and making me wonder about the quality and guts of the players out there. Tiger is Tiger is Tiger...but come on Pros, show some toughness.
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