I know it’s a little late to the party, but congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy for winning last weekend’s SBS Championship at the Plantation Course in Kapalua.
He beat out Rory Sabbatini by shooting six-under on the final day of the tournament.
What’s really interesting about this win for Geoff is that it is going to put him in the pole position to benefit from Tiger’s absense. Last year, he won this tournament (when it was called the Mercedes Benz Championship) as well as the WGC Match Play.
He obviously has the game, but to really take advantage, he is going to need to assert himself in the majors; last year he finished in the top 15 at Augusta, but was a combined +31 at the US and British Opens and PGA, and a whopping 97 over in the majors since his fantastic 2006 where he followed up on a win in the US Open with great performances at the British and PGA.
No, not the NFL playoffs. No, not the start of the new PGA season either.
Those events might both be starting again, but I was thinking about the time following the holidays where I finally get to try out all the golf training aids and swag from Christmas.
Seeing as how all the golf courses within 300 miles are buried under a foot of snow, these various training aids are the best chance I have for staying in fighting trim and getting my golf fix for the next few months.
This year, the cream of the crop is the Speed Stik – maybe you’ve seen the commercial with Vijay Singh, it looks a lot like a broom stick and supposedly it helps with balance, plane, and swing speed. I’m still working on a more detailed review, but so far, things are looking positive. I have been using it for about a week, and have already seen improvements in flexibility, plane, swing speed, and my backswing is much better.
Is it worth spending nearly 100 hard-earned dollars on what many consider to be a glorified broomstick? That’s what I am still trying to figure out.
As most of you know by now, John Daly was denied (aka ‘not given’) an exemption to this year’s Bob Hope Classic. He was apparently pretty upset by the decision, going so far to call it a slap in the face.
When I originally read the news, I was hardly surprised. Daly’s sins and transgressions have been well-documented, and his history really doesn’t jive with someone who is going to need a lot of favors in 2010. Let’s face it, has anyone had more second chances than John Daly?
Then I gave it some thought, and he kind of has a point. Look at who did get exemptions to this year’s tournament; Rocco Mediate, David Duval, Jamie Love, Ricky Fowler, and Jamie Lovemark.
Most of these picks make sense – Duval is a former winner, Rocco is Rocco, Fowler earned his exemption, and Saunders is Arnold Palmer’s grandson. Daly can’t really complain about any of those selections.
The Lovemark seleciton though is a bit puzzling. Granted he is a young, up-and-coming golfer but who really thinks he can bring more money, people, and viewers to the tournament then Big John? How does putting Jamie Lovemark in this tournament help anyone but Jamie Lovemark?
You have to think this fact was not lost on the BHC folks when they handed out exemptions, and John has a right to be pissed about that. Or maybe he just needs to realize that sooner or later, he is going to run out of second chances.
Just when you think we were finally freed from all this Tiger Woods extramarital affair nonsense, Brit Hume drags us back into the gutter.
For those who haven’t heard, Brit was on some political roundtable show where the topic of Tiger Woods came up. Hume expressed his belief that Tiger, who apparently is a Buddhist, should convert to Christianity to find ‘forgiveness and redemption’. Making matters worse, in my mind, is the fact that, when faced with the initial backlash, Hume had the gall to play the victim card, stating the ‘two most explosive words in the English language’ were Jesus Christs.
Needless to say, Hume riled a lot of Buddhists with his remarks, as well as folks from a veritable melting pot of religions. And, I would think, rightfully so.
However, one group has struck me as particularly mum on this matter, or worse, flat-out supportive of Hume. Now, I’m not the most religious person in the world, but I do consider myself a part of the Christian faith, and I found Hume’s remarks boorish and offensive, and I am a bit disappointed more Christians aren’t saying the same thing.
Why do I feel this way? To put it simply, if you take a minute to think about Hume’s comments, the more it seems that Hume is interested in more interested in talking about himself than his faith. Consider the evidence against him:
His decision to comment public, not privately – Now, I don’t know if Brit tried to reach out to Tiger personally or not, but I think it’s a safe bet that he didn’t. Call me a cynic but in my experience, when people choose to give advice publicly rather than privately, it’s because the person giving the advice is much more interested in themself than the person they are ostensibly “helping”.
Hume talks about Christianity as if it were a spiritual ‘Get Out of Jail’ card – I understand that forgiveness is a key element of our faith, but is it really the right reason to become a Christian? Sounds like focusing too much on the reward and not the work, so to speak. Might as well suggest Christianity because it’s a great way to meet women.
Too much focus on the faith, not the reason for it - Maybe it’s just me, but I find it disheartening that Hume would use the phrase “Christian faith” rather than God or Jesus Christ. It might seem meaningless, but it reeks to me of a man more interested in getting Tiger to join his ‘team’ than in making the connections with God necessary to redeem his life or his soul.
Imagine you’re the richest, most well-known professional athlete on the planet. Still in the prime of your career, you’are already an icon among the greats of your sport. You have hundreds of millions of dollars, and a beautiful family. You’re also having affairs with three skanky women and your secret comes out to the entire world at the same time you ram your luxury SUV into the neighbor’s tree.
Your privacy, dignity, reputation, and family have all been shattered. How do you even begin the process of repairing all of that? If your name is Tiger Woods, you might start by considering something pretty radical – taking the year off..
Taking the year off from pro golf would do a lot of good for Tiger, particularly if he wants to keep his family together. It would give him the time he needs to mend his family, away from the prying eyes of the public. Additionally, the symbolism of the world’s best and most dedicated golfer giving up his craft for the better of his family would go a long way to restoring his image. Lastly, taking the year off would take a lot of steam out of the media and cultural scrutiny he and his family will deal with should he play professional golf in 2009.
Sponsors might complain, but if they’re willing to stick with him through this mess, chances are they won’t mind his taking a year off. They might actually prefer it because of the long-term good it will do to his brand and ability to sell their products. Besides, it’s not like he needs the money.
Missing the majors in 2010 might hurt, but Tiger can take off 2010 and still be ahead of Jack Nicklaus’s pace to 18 major victories.
Tiger might win some tournaments, but in a lot of ways playing pro golf in 2010 is a lose-lose situation for him; if he plays great he looks like a guy who cares more about golf than his family and his brand takes a big hit. Play poorly and it only fuels the media speculation, attention and distraction.
Tiger might not win by taking off 2010, but it’s probably his best chance at a tie.
Still, for all of the disappointment that has been expressed about Woods’ activities – and the actions of those looking to capitalize off of his fame and fortune – there has probably never been more interest in golf. Ever.
Forget the Win for the Ages. Nevermind the Tiger Slam.
Because of Tiger Woods’ accident, rumor mill, and subsequent confession, golf has never had more eyes even indirectly afixed on it.
What’s interesting about this is I couldn’t agree with Ryan more. This year, golf may very well have more eyes and more ‘cultural relevance’ than it has had in years. The problem is, for me, I think this is where the problem starts.
Attention, whether good or bad, is not a bad thing for golf, and without a doubt, this scandal is going to create a unique opportunity for the sport here in America. Problem is, who is going to seize that opportunity? Outside of Tiger, are there any male golfers in the US who can command the attention of all these people looking in on the sport and not give it back?
If so, then this scandal will indeed be a good thing for golf.
Problem is, if not, the attention will likely avert to Tiger. Unless something dramatically happens in the next few months to improve his likeability, there’s a really good chance when the morbid curiousity of this scandal fades, the PGA Tour will find itself with fewer fans and lower ratings than before Tiger backed his Escalade into a tree.
Athlete gets hand caught in cookie jar, issues denial, condemning evidence surfaces, athlete issues apology, vows to correct offending behavior in private, never speaks of it again, and six months later all is either forgotten and forgiven. The never-ending 24-hour news cycle moves on to its next victim.
Should be the same for Tiger, right?
We could see this pattern with Tiger, with his brand relatively intact after this mess settles (some are even gambling on this fact), but it’s probably not the slam dunk many peole think it is because of one thing – likeability. Likeability plays a huge role in which athletes we cheer for and against, and overnight, Tiger went from Ben Hogan to Jon Gosselin. All of his accomplishments and actions, past and present, are now stained with a sleaziness that might never fully come off.
Knowing what you know now, isn’t there at least a part of you that wishes Rocco Mediate won that playoff at the Torey Pines? The next time Sam and Charlie run onto the 18th green after their daddy wins a tournament, you’re not going to wonder, even if it’s just for a second, if that moment’s real or staged?
A lot of people claim they watch Tiger because they love to watch him play golf. Really? If Jon Gosselin could hit the ball like Happy Gilmore, you think those same people would line up to pay and watch him play? To quote Jules from Pulp Fiction; “Sewer rate may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ’cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy m*therf*cker”.
Of course you can argue that we’ve seen this before with, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and SpyGate and that in those cases, the principals largely came out unscathed. Unfortunately, this is golf we’re talking about, and not team sports where you have the luxury to hate a player, but love the uniform he’s wearing. You can’t do that where the logo and the man are the same thing.
The other problem with Tiger’s situation is that he competes in a sport where the mythology is so incompatible with his behavior. Baseball, football, boxing, these sports and their players have much more colorful histories than golf, which at some level is still firmly rooted in honor and integrity. How is the golf community going to react now that its best player has shown a stunning lack of both?
This brings us to the biggest irony of the debacle of the last few days, which is that Tiger could come out of this a lot better than the game of golf, or at least pro golf. Think about it – we all know Tiger is going to take a hit in terms of brand and number of fans that follow him. No matter what the magnitude of that hit is, he is so well off financially and his game is so strong, he will be able to carry on.
However, the PGA might not be so lucky. The tour is overly dependent on Tiger for attendance and tv ratings; without a serious challenger to him in game or marketability, how many of Tiger’s fans can the PGA afford to lose before purses, attendance, ratings, and revenue start to drop?
One of the best and worst things about life in the northeast, from a golf perspective, is dealing with the ‘golf offseason’, that 4-5 month period between November and March where cold, snow, wind and rain conspire to keep you off the course.
Just because you’re not on the course doesn’t mean you can’t be working on your golf game. The offseason is a fantastic time to work on key golf drills as well as your golf fitness so when sunnier skies do appear, your game is in great shape.
it you’re staring down the barrel of another offseason, make sure to head over to golf.com and check out their latest piece on stretching for golf. I haven’t had a chance to try them out much myself, but I love the fact it gives you the options to find and focus on the stretches that fit your goals, needs, and ability level.
One of the stretches I plan to focus on is the calf stretch, which golf.com suggests for improving athleticism and speed for 30+ handicaps:
Place the ball of your foot on the edge of a step. Lean forward while keeping your knee extended and hold. Perform 10 reps on each calf.
