Pro Tour
You can fall from grace and still do great things. Maybe you have to fall from grace to do the greatest things. Tiger, forget beating Jack and show us all the true nature of golf.
I know, I know - enough David Duval . . . but I really did want to mention something that I think is important in golf and sports in general.
And it was something David mentioned in the last post I did called,
David Duval - Back in the Saddle Again - and it was part of the press conference he did after he came in second at the 2010 Pebble Beach AT&T Pro Am - and I will highlight what David said in the quote below:
"I just believe -- my guess is that with where I've been and what I've gone through, I think that the fact ...
It sure was nice to see David Duval come in tied for second at the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. He had four rounds of 67-68-67-69. Those are solid scores in anyone's book.
Believe it or not, this early in the season he is now 16th on the money list with over $557,000 earned in 2010.
John and I have been big fans of Duval here at the GolfDashBlog and it is just nice to see someone who has been to the dark side of golfing depths for some time but now seems to be emerging into the light again.
I just read his post-round interview at Pebble Beach and ...
I happened to run across the video above of Jean Van De Velde talking about his collapse in the 1999 British Open and later another collapse after leading by 1 stroke in the 2005 French Open.
Even listening to this interview I somehow still have the impression that he just doesn't get it - that it *might* have been more prudent to take another club off the 18th tee rather than hit driver. But I'm not sure "the story" he tells himself about that event has done much to help his golf game or his career for that matter.
It's interesting to think about how "the stories" you ...
Bottom line, do the Ping Eye 2 wedges make a real difference? Not in play, but they do in the media. The USGA has created a monster and now they, like Tiger, must 'do the right thing' and clean this mess up. Right On Phil!
Who can question the taking, with record professional purses and at least one golf superstar earning in excess of $100 million a year. To put that in perspective, that's the amount that the U.S. government has pledged for Haiti relief, a country were it is estimated 200,000 people may have lost their lives in an earthquake and its aftermath.
And what do we, the public who ultimately funds the PGA Tour and professional sports in general, get out of these businesses that throw off fantastic wealth for a few? For one, the privilege to watch professional sports on TV. Is that about it? How about insight into the lives of the golfing heroes ...
Call me crazy, but I really believe, as Alister MacKenzie did, that golf can transform lives and cultures for the better if it's stewards respect and protect its core values. Getting rid of U grooves is a step in the right direction, but there's an awful long way to go. Now if we can just keep Tiger and John Daly from drawing guns in the locker room.....
If Tiger is our model, then to win at the highest levels of professional golf over a period of decades you have to remake your game many times. Maybe you have to redo your priorities as well!
Who cares about pro tennis these days, at least the men anyway? There's not really anyone out there with much personality. The players seem to all look the same.
And the game has changed - huge serves with one or no volley. Not too exciting, at least that's what we've got to assume looking at the falling audience figures for the last 10 years. It's heading in the direction of a true bore-a-thon!
It's not hard to imagine that golf could go the same way. Yesterday I talked about there being very little for the audience to chew on outside of the actual play itself.
And pro golfers have ...
What's made the sport so appealing for so long is it's not like other sports. It's always had it's own rules and culture that have inspired the best in all of us. I hope it continues!
