Two Years After Tiger Woods’ Troubles, Golf Continues To Fall Short in Producing Big-Name Players
Fred Couples was one of many top golfers once on the PGA Tour. Not so today. Photo: Jack Fleming Photography.
Sideline Sam was walking the course of Riviera County Club during the annual Northern Trust Open with a friend who is a golf nut and follows the PGA Tour on a regular basis.
So whenever the friend saw a golfer, whose name was as recognizable to Sideline Sam as a street sign in Greece, he would provide a brief bio on the player. It was like walking the course with a talking media guide.
“That’s so-and-so (he was saying their names much faster than Keegan Bradley would line up for a shot so it was impossible to catch them all),” he said. “He blew a seven-shot lead on the last day and lost at Torrey Pines in a playoff.”
Then he would point to another golfer: “That’s so-and-so. He blew a five-shot lead the final day in Phoenix.”
And, “that’s so-and-so. He lost a three-shot lead going into the back nine and lost at La Quinta two years ago.”
On and on went his descriptions, hitting nearly every single player in the field. Just once, it would have been nice to hear him say, “That’s Freddie Fairway. He made four straight birdies on the back nine of the final round to win the Byron Nelson. Then he won three of the next four tournaments. He’s a rising star.”
Or, “That’s Danny Driver. He’s got the biggest drive on Tour. He can drive it further than the Indy 500 winner. Is money around the green, too. He’s won nearly a dozen tournaments and he’s only in his fifth year.”
Or, “That’s Ivan Irons. Went on a tear last year with three wins in a row. Is great around the greens and has hit so many big putts they call him ‘Clutch Putt.’ ”
But it didn’t happen. That’s because the PGA Tour is made up of a bunch of really good golfers but no outstanding golfers. They’ve all got game and can hit it a ton but they can’t take the ball by the, well, balls. It’s a field of players, not winners.
When Tiger Woods left the scene two years ago, the field was as wide open as a public course fairway. All the obstacles to dominance had suddenly been removed. There were no sand traps, no water, no tiered greens with a slope that would roll a ball to the next tournament without the proper spin. Taking charge should have been as easy as a call girl in Vegas.
But you know what? Nobody could hit that green. Or if they did, make it stick. Players pop up and win a tournament, then disappear faster than than a ball at No. 9 on Augusta. That’s why there are so many no-names on Tour now. Nobody has stepped up to take Tiger’s spot at the top of golf’s leaderboard. Instead, we’re stuck with a bunch of guys that could blend into the gallery if they weren’t holding a club. Heck, even a caddy (Steve Williams) is more famous than the golfer for whose bag he carries (Adam Scott).
No wonder nobody tunes in on TV when Tiger is not playing, or why crowds swell when he’s entered in a tournament. There’s nobody else to watch!
The 2012 Northern Trust Open consisted of these players in some of the final pairings: Jarrod Lyle. Bo Van Pelt. J.B. Holmes. Pat Perez. Dustin Johnson, whose claim to fame is that he’s supposedly dating hot LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis (check the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue).
The biggest name on Tour is Phil Michelson. The problem with Michelson is that he can’t stand success. Treats it as if it’s a hornet’s nest. Riviera proved to be the perfect example of this; he was coming off one of the finest finishing rounds ever at the AT&T Pebble Beach and led from the start at the Northern Trust Open. The gallery was for him and Woods was not in the field.
So Michelson responded with bogies on 14 and 15 on Sunday, both on putts. Worse, he left ‘em short. On the Par 3 14th, his birdie putt was some 15 feet short. Yes, he did make a long one on 18 to force himself into a playoff, but on the second hole he hit his tee shot in a bunker. Had Michelson simply finished his round the way he started the tournament, there would have been no playoff and he would have won for the second consecutive week.
Rory McIlroy? Caused a sensation when he won the 2011 U.S. Open. Then he went to the British Open, stopping for beers in a pub in his native Northern Ireland along the way. This was a guy we could like!
Alas, he’s not won on Tour since.
For a fan, it’s frustrating. Whom to follow? How can you root for a guy whose greatest accomplishment is being in the clubhouse when some guy double-bogeys 18 to hand him the tournament?
The final round of PGA Tour events is like “the big one” at Daytona, but instead of cars being scattered all over the place there are golf balls and golfers.
There was a time when golf’s roster was full of winners. Watson, Nicklaus, Treveno, Player, Norman, Couples and Irwin were the names in the field, not Mahan, Tringle and de Jonge. What’s more, there were guys like Hal Sutton, Lanny Wadkins and Davis Love who could put together a string of wins. Sure a D.A. Weibring would sneak up and win every now and then, but it was an aberration, not a weekly occurrence.
Before that, there was Palmer. Hogan. Sneed.
At the very least, why can’t the Tour produce someone fun and exciting? Someone who booms drives the length of aircraft carries and has a prodigious personality to match? John Daly, come back!
We are cheering for you, guys. Not just to win the tournament we’re watching, but to do it in style, to put together a hot back nine and actually take the darned thing. And then do it again the next week. And the next.
Then you won’t be reading all these stories about how the PGA Tour still needs Tiger Woods. It does and it’s because of you.
PGA Tour Still Needs A Star Player Besides Tiger Woods
Two Years After Tiger Woods’ Troubles, Golf Continues To Fall Short in Producing Big-Name Players
Fred Couples was one of many top golfers once on the PGA Tour. Not so today. Photo: Jack Fleming Photography.
Sideline Sam was walking the course of Riviera County Club during the annual Northern Trust Open with a friend who is a golf nut and follows the PGA Tour on a regular basis.
So whenever the friend saw a golfer, whose name was as recognizable to Sideline Sam as a street sign in Greece, he would provide a brief bio on the player. It was like walking the course with a talking media guide.
“That’s so-and-so (he was saying their names much faster than Keegan Bradley would line up for a shot so it was impossible to catch them all),” he said. “He blew a seven-shot lead on the last day and lost at Torrey Pines in a playoff.”
Then he would point to another golfer: “That’s so-and-so. He blew a five-shot lead the final day in Phoenix.”
And, “that’s so-and-so. He lost a three-shot lead going into the back nine and lost at La Quinta two years ago.”
On and on went his descriptions, hitting nearly every single player in the field. Just once, it would have been nice to hear him say, “That’s Freddie Fairway. He made four straight birdies on the back nine of the final round to win the Byron Nelson. Then he won three of the next four tournaments. He’s a rising star.”
Or, “That’s Danny Driver. He’s got the biggest drive on Tour. He can drive it further than the Indy 500 winner. Is money around the green, too. He’s won nearly a dozen tournaments and he’s only in his fifth year.”
Or, “That’s Ivan Irons. Went on a tear last year with three wins in a row. Is great around the greens and has hit so many big putts they call him ‘Clutch Putt.’ ”
But it didn’t happen. That’s because the PGA Tour is made up of a bunch of really good golfers but no outstanding golfers. They’ve all got game and can hit it a ton but they can’t take the ball by the, well, balls. It’s a field of players, not winners.
When Tiger Woods left the scene two years ago, the field was as wide open as a public course fairway. All the obstacles to dominance had suddenly been removed. There were no sand traps, no water, no tiered greens with a slope that would roll a ball to the next tournament without the proper spin. Taking charge should have been as easy as a call girl in Vegas.
But you know what? Nobody could hit that green. Or if they did, make it stick. Players pop up and win a tournament, then disappear faster than than a ball at No. 9 on Augusta. That’s why there are so many no-names on Tour now. Nobody has stepped up to take Tiger’s spot at the top of golf’s leaderboard. Instead, we’re stuck with a bunch of guys that could blend into the gallery if they weren’t holding a club. Heck, even a caddy (Steve Williams) is more famous than the golfer for whose bag he carries (Adam Scott).
No wonder nobody tunes in on TV when Tiger is not playing, or why crowds swell when he’s entered in a tournament. There’s nobody else to watch!
The 2012 Northern Trust Open consisted of these players in some of the final pairings: Jarrod Lyle. Bo Van Pelt. J.B. Holmes. Pat Perez. Dustin Johnson, whose claim to fame is that he’s supposedly dating hot LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis (check the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue).
The biggest name on Tour is Phil Michelson. The problem with Michelson is that he can’t stand success. Treats it as if it’s a hornet’s nest. Riviera proved to be the perfect example of this; he was coming off one of the finest finishing rounds ever at the AT&T Pebble Beach and led from the start at the Northern Trust Open. The gallery was for him and Woods was not in the field.
So Michelson responded with bogies on 14 and 15 on Sunday, both on putts. Worse, he left ‘em short. On the Par 3 14th, his birdie putt was some 15 feet short. Yes, he did make a long one on 18 to force himself into a playoff, but on the second hole he hit his tee shot in a bunker. Had Michelson simply finished his round the way he started the tournament, there would have been no playoff and he would have won for the second consecutive week.
Rory McIlroy? Caused a sensation when he won the 2011 U.S. Open. Then he went to the British Open, stopping for beers in a pub in his native Northern Ireland along the way. This was a guy we could like!
Alas, he’s not won on Tour since.
For a fan, it’s frustrating. Whom to follow? How can you root for a guy whose greatest accomplishment is being in the clubhouse when some guy double-bogeys 18 to hand him the tournament?
The final round of PGA Tour events is like “the big one” at Daytona, but instead of cars being scattered all over the place there are golf balls and golfers.
There was a time when golf’s roster was full of winners. Watson, Nicklaus, Treveno, Player, Norman, Couples and Irwin were the names in the field, not Mahan, Tringle and de Jonge. What’s more, there were guys like Hal Sutton, Lanny Wadkins and Davis Love who could put together a string of wins. Sure a D.A. Weibring would sneak up and win every now and then, but it was an aberration, not a weekly occurrence.
Before that, there was Palmer. Hogan. Sneed.
At the very least, why can’t the Tour produce someone fun and exciting? Someone who booms drives the length of aircraft carries and has a prodigious personality to match? John Daly, come back!
We are cheering for you, guys. Not just to win the tournament we’re watching, but to do it in style, to put together a hot back nine and actually take the darned thing. And then do it again the next week. And the next.
Then you won’t be reading all these stories about how the PGA Tour still needs Tiger Woods. It does and it’s because of you.